With 80 news ships in last 5 years, Chinese Navy is 'here to stay': Admiral Lanba

NEW DELHI: The Chinese navy has grown at the fastest pace of any navy in the world in the past 200 years, said the Indian naval chief, Admiral Sunil Lanba. Speaking at the Raisina Dialogue, Admiral Lanba said the Chinese navy had been present in the Indian Ocean since 2008.

Having added a phenomenal 80 ships to their Navy in the past five years, Lanba said,“ They are a force and they are a force which is here to stay."

“At any given time, there are six to eight Chinese Navy ships in the northern part of the Indian Ocean"

Since 2008, he said, Chinese naval presence in the Indian Ocean region has been in the form of anti-piracy escort force. “The 31st anti-piracy escort force is present in the Gulf of Aden." However, flagging concerns about the actual nature of China’s presence, he said while China has said that its base in Djibouti is for anti-piracy operations, China has "deployed submarines for anti-piracy operations" which is the "most unlikely platform to be used for this role".

The Indo-Pacific panel saw the navy chiefs of India, Australia, Japan, France and the Indo-Pacific Command chief of the US discussing the Chinese military presence and its implications.

Admiral Kawano, the Japanese naval chief said Japan and China were in “a state of conflict” in the East China Sea. “I have to admit that the activities of the Chinese air force and navy in the region have heightened,” he said. “However, we (China and Japan) have signed a maritime and aerial communication memorandum. We are also looking at a visit of defence ministers,” he said, indicating at an incipient thaw.

For the US, the renaming of the Pacific Command to the Indo-Pacific Command was an acknowledgment of the changing realities.

Later, Marisa Payne, Australia’s foreign minister, speaking at a plenary session, said, within the Indian Ocean, Australia seeks to develop a deeper “strategic partnership with India, supporting its role as a strategic anchor in the region.”

“In March this year Australia’s largest annual naval deployment, Indo-Pacific Endeavour, comprising up to five Royal Australian Navy vessels, including frigates, a Helicopter Landing Dock (HMAS Canberra), and a replenishment vessel and around 1400 Australian Defence Force personnel, will be hosted across the region and port visits in Vizag and Chennai. Engagement with India will be the cornerstone of this year’s deployment to the Indian Ocean, with our bilateral navy exercise AUSINDEX at its heart,” she said.

While the Indian civilian leadership balks at openly endorsing the Quadrilateral, the Navy Chief showed no such reservations. The Quad, he said, supported an inclusive, free, rules-based order and commitment to honour international rules and agreements. This grouping, he asserted, would “grow with time.”