Big Power Game on the High Seas

Great powers have great navies. India has started to realize this

- Shishir Gupta

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Wednesday, at the Naval Dockyards in Mumbai, commission into the Indian Navy, guided missile destroyer Surat, stealth frigate Nilgiri and diesel-electric submarine Vagsheer, together worth over ₹30,000 crore (less weapon costs).

There is also a very high likelihood that the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) led by him could sign off this month on the acquisition of 26 Rafale-Maritime strike fighters for aircraft carrier INS Vikrant and three additional Scorpene class submarines from France. The two deals are currently being vetted by the finance ministry and should be on the CCS' table later this month. The two acquisitions have been in the works for some time and have nothing to do with Modi's visit to France next month. But they are linked to a threat posed by the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).