Author : Sayantan Haldar

Expert Speak Raisina Debates
Published on Jan 24, 2025

India’s commissioning of three new naval assets reflects its security leadership in the Indo-Pacific, its growing indigenisation of defence production, and its commitment to a rules-based order

Bolstering the Indian Navy: Commissioning three naval warships for Indo-Pacific security

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Maritime security preparedness has emerged as a critical priority for India’s outlook in the Indian Ocean and the wider Indo-Pacific. India’s outlook and outreach in the region remain anchored in its ambition to be a leading naval power in the Indian Ocean and a key architect in the Indo-Pacific security landscape. The importance of India bolstering its naval power is underscored by emerging challenges at sea, primarily emanating from China’s complex strategy to increase its presence in the Indian Ocean. On 15 January, Prime Minister Narendra Modi commissioned three naval warshipswhich includes a destroyer, INS Surat; a frigate, INS Nilgiri; and a submarine, INS Vaghsheer—in Mumbai, further bolstering the Indian Navy’s prowess and maritime security preparedness.

The importance of India bolstering its naval power is underscored by emerging challenges at sea, primarily emanating from China’s complex strategy to increase its presence in the Indian Ocean.

The security environment in the Indo-Pacific is undergoing a complex shift. While India and its like-minded partners continue to advocate for a free and open Indo-Pacific region, China’s aggressive posturing and coercive tactics have increasingly sought to challenge the rules-based order. In this regard, bolstering naval power has emerged as a key priority seeking to serve dual purposes. First, growing combatant assets at sea markedly enhances the material naval capabilities of a nation in its efforts to secure its interests in the region. Second, it also serves to signal seriousness and a commitment towards the protection of a rules-based order against aggressive advancements at sea. In this context, India’s role in the Indo-Pacific remains pivotal. In the Indian Ocean, India has sought to position itself as a principal security actor, often presenting itself as a first responder or preferred security partner in the region. In the Indo-Pacific security architecture, however, India has sought to focus on the geopolitical dimension of a worsening security environment. Therefore, the commissioning of the three combat vessels underlines New Delhi’s commitment towards enhancing its naval prowess in the Indian Ocean region.

Furthermore, the commissioning of these naval assets by the Indian Navy has also advanced India’s quest for indigenisation in defence production. Within its broader framework of emerging as a self-reliant power, India has continually prioritised defence indigenisation. This merits attention, given the emerging complexities in global geopolitics. In the aftermath of the enduring war in Europe, dependence on traditional defence suppliers has increasingly posed a vital strategic vulnerability. Moreover, the focus on bolstering defence production in India also seeks to galvanise churn in its domestic economy. The three naval warships commissioned recently—INS Surat, INS Vaghsheer, and INS Nilgiri—have taken a quantum leap in domestic defence production with an estimated 75 percent of the ships’ assets developed in India.

Within its broader framework of emerging as a self-reliant power, India has continually prioritised defence indigenisation. This merits attention, given the emerging complexities in global geopolitics.

The commissioning of the three naval assets also represents a comprehensive upgrade in India’s naval prowess. The two warships and the submarine vessel are likely to provide a panoramic advancement in India’s naval capabilities. INS Surat, the fourth and final ship of the Visakhapatnam-class destroyers, is sought to be the finest in its class, marking an upgrade over its predecessors—INS Visakhapatnam, INS Mormugao, and INS Imphal. It is also India’s first Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled warship, demonstrating parity with growing technological advancements. INS Nilgiri is the seventh of the Nilgiri-class frigate, which has been redesigned to incorporate advanced features for attack and stealth capabilities. INS Vaghsheer is the sixth of the Scorpene-class submarine vessels with the capability for anti-surface and anti-submarine missions. Together, these three combat assets mark a significant enhancement of India’s naval assets. Notably, this is also the first time three major naval assets were commissioned together. The three naval combatants have also achieved a significant milestone in India’s production capabilities. While India’s efforts for defence indigenisation have been a work in progress, these three assets have been built and commissioned in record time. This is likely to galvanise the production of more vessels and submarines slated to be commissioned in the future.

Class Naval Combatant Commissioning Date
Visakhapatnam Class Destroyers (P-15 Bravo Class) INS Visakhapatnam INS Mormugao INS Imphal INS Surat   November, 2021 December, 2022 December, 2023 January, 2025
Nilgiri Class Frigates (P-17 Alpha) INS Nilgiri INS Udaygiri INS Himgiri INS Taragiri INS Dunagiri INS Vindhyagiri INS Mahendragiri   January, 2025 Expected 2025 Expected 2025 Expected 2026 Expected 2026 Expected 2026 Expected 2027
Scorpene Class Submarines INS Kalvari INS Khanderi INS Karanj INS Vela INS Vagir INS Vaghsheer   December, 2017 September, 2019 March, 2021 November, 2021 January, 2023 January, 2025

Source: Author’s compilation

During the commissioning of these assets, Prime Minister Modi underlined India’s steady progress in emerging as a major maritime power. Indeed, the three vessels do mark a pivotal moment in India’s maritime security preparedness. However, given the looming challenges in the Indo-Pacific, and China’s incremental presence in the Indian Ocean, India needs to keep pace with its rapidly growing naval stock. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army and Navy have upped the ante in the Indo-Pacific. While India has not pursued a strategy of naval confrontation with China, given the nuance in Beijing’s advances in the Indian Ocean, other like-minded partners have sought to enhance naval activities in the region to exhibit commitment to a rules-based order at sea. These include efforts to enhance interoperability and naval collaboration. This is where the Indian Navy’s role is significant. India, as a principal naval power in the Indian Ocean, remains pivotal in fostering naval cooperation in the region. These key additions to the Indian Navy are likely to expand collaboration with partner countries in ensuring a free and open order in the region.

Therefore, the three naval assets are a welcome development in signalling India’s intent and commitment to ensuring a peaceful order at sea. Additionally, it further serves to provide a major fillip in India’s efforts to domestically produce defence assets efficiently. Given that much of the shift in the global security landscape is likely to play out in the maritime domain, prioritising India’s naval capabilities and bolstering its prowess is indeed a positive development towards its national security, while also allowing New Delhi to play a major role in the emerging order at sea.


Sayantan Haldar is a Research Assistant with the Strategic Studies Programme at the Observer Research Foundation. 

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Author

Sayantan Haldar

Sayantan Haldar

Sayantan Haldar is a Research Assistant at ORF’s Strategic Studies Programme. At ORF, Sayantan’s research focuses on Maritime Studies. He is interested in questions of ...

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