11 drills in 60 days: is India’s navy stretched too thin?

AI Summary

India’s navy has held 11 joint exercises across several regions in a 60-day period, signaling ambitions for a wider maritime role. The tempo has prompted questions about whether the navy’s limited submarine fleet and expansion constraints leave sufficient capacity to protect India’s own waters.

In the space of just two months, India’s navy has held joint exercises off the coasts of Britain, France, South Africa, Oman, the Philippines, South Korea, Japan and Russia’s far east. Such a run of exercises signals a bid for a larger maritime role on the world stage, analysts say. Yet it also raises questions about whether a navy currently short on submarines and struggling to expand can support such global ambitions while also guarding India’s home waters. Since mid-September, over a span of...