Battling the Dragon at Sea: India’s Fight for Maritime Dominance
INS Vindhyagiri at its launch on 17 August 2023
In 2023, over 60 Chinese naval and survey vessels were detected near India’s Exclusive Economic Zone, underscoring a silent contest for dominance in the Indo-Pacific. As the region emerges as the world’s economic and strategic epicenter, India faces a dual challenge: safeguarding maritime sovereignty while balancing regional alliances. This commentary argues that New Delhi’s security hinges on countering Beijing’s expanding footprint marked by militarized atolls and through enhanced naval deterrence, strategic Quad partnerships, and resilient regional diplomacy, all while avoiding escalation in a theater teetering on geopolitical fault lines.
Shorten this : China’s creeping maritime encirclement of India, exemplified by its dual-use infrastructure projects and naval patrols, directly threatens New Delhi’s sovereignty. Beijing’s construction of militarized artificial islands in the South China Sea, coupled with its “research” vessels mapping Indian Ocean seabeds, enables both surveillance and submarine warfare capabilities. India’s 2023 Coastal Security Exercise, involving 75 ships, highlights its response, but gaps persist: its navy operates 150 vessels to China’s 355. Strengthening naval asymmetry requires accelerated submarine fleet modernization (Project-75I) and expanding the Andaman-Nicobar Command, critical to monitoring strategic chokepoints (Malacca Strait). Without such deterrence, India risks ceding control of maritime zones vital to its $1.2 trillion seaborne trade.
Strategic collaboration with Quad partners offers India a counterweight to Chinese coercion while avoiding overt militarization. Joint initiatives like the Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness Initiative (IPMDA), which uses satellite tech to combat illegal fishing, a cover for China’s militia incursions that demonstrate practical synergy. The 2023 Malabar naval exercises, featuring Quad carriers, signal interoperability, yet India’s reluctance to formalize the alliance (e.g., resisting a NATO-style pact) reflects caution. Critics argue this hesitance undermines collective security, but New Delhi’s calibrated approach of deepening defense ties bilaterally (e.g., AUKUS-linked tech-sharing with Australia) while championing ASEAN centrality balances deterrence with regional stability. This dual-track strategy isolates Beijing’s aggression without triggering a Cold War-style bloc rivalry.
Finally, India’s SAGAR doctrine prioritizes transparency and counters China's Belt and Road (BRI). Further, by leading the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) and leveraging its G20 presidency for Indo-Pacific development agendas, New Delhi positions itself as a benign stakeholder.
India’s Indo-Pacific security hinges on deterring coercive hegemony through naval modernization, agile Quad engagement, and sustainable regional partnerships. Failing to counterbalance China’s militarization and debt-trap tactics risks eroding sovereignty and destabilizing trade corridors. New Delhi must urgently prioritize maritime investments, deepen minilateral coalitions, and amplify its role as a credible development partner. In this contested maritime century, India’s choices will either anchor regional equilibrium or surrender it to autocratic tides.