Need 'issue-based' ties to fight challenges: Navy chief

NEW DELHI: Contemporary challenges in the maritime domain can best be addressed by "issue-based convergences" among like-minded countries, Navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar said on Saturday, while highlighting the ever-changing technologies in the field of modern warfare.
Speaking at the Raisina Dialogue here, Admiral Kumar referred to the US Navy back in 2015 talking about a 'thousand-ship Navy', which would involve all friendly navies coming together, to underline the need to work together in the huge maritime domain with all its myriad challenges.
"In India, we are looking at issue-based convergences. We may not agree on certain things, but we will agree on many other issues," he said.
The Navy chief said India was also looking at "regional solutions for regional problems", citing the advantages of regional groupings like the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium, which has 25 partner countries, Colombo Security Conclave and Goa Maritime Conclave.
"When we work in smaller groups, it serves a lot of purposes. It generates a lot of trust among the partner countries. You work towards building capacity and results in increasing interoperability, better maritime domain awareness and regular engagements. All this leads to maritime security," he said.