New Delhi, Apr 17 (PTI) The Indian Navy must maintain its focus on combat readiness and adopt emerging technologies to ensure the force remains future-ready, Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi has said.
Admiral Tripathi also reaffirmed the force's "obligations" to the Indian Ocean Region, stressing the need for a credible and proactive partnership with friendly foreign nations to navigate the evolving security landscape
He made the remarks during a four-day biannual Naval Commanders' conference that concluded on Friday.
The conference served as a vital forum for a comprehensive review of the Navy's operational and materiel preparedness, infrastructure, logistics, and human resource initiatives, along with an assessment of the prevailing operational environment amidst the ongoing conflict in West Asia, the Navy said in a statement.
Emphasising the evolving geostrategic environment, the Navy Chief highlighted increasing complexities in maritime security, where concurrent conflicts, a weakening rules-based order, and increased threats posed by non-state actors are converging to create a highly contested operational space for the Indian Navy, it said.
During the conference, Admiral Tripathi unveiled the "Indian Navy Maritime Security Strategy (INMSS)" along with other key naval publications.
The INMSS outlines the Navy's security strategy in the maritime domain for furthering national interests in the coming decade within the evolving security environment, the Navy said in the statement.
The strategy is anchored in a realistic assessment of the evolving geopolitical landscape, disruptive technologies, reforms in higher defence organisation, and the changing character of warfare, it said.
The commanders also deliberated on issues of jointness, capability enhancement, maintenance and refits, multi-domain safety practices, training, foreign cooperation, human resources and indigenisation.
It is learnt that the commanders also discussed naval deployments to safeguard India's energy security amidst the ongoing conflict in West Asia.
For the last several years, the Indian Navy has been escorting Indian-flagged merchant vessels, specifically those carrying crude oil and natural gas, to ensure their safe passage through the Gulf of Oman.
The naval commanders' conference serves as a platform for close interaction with national leadership, setting a strategic direction for the naval plans.