Arabian Sea’s naval build up puts Pakistan back foot

Rising military tensions between Indian and Pakistan after the  Pulwama suicide car bombing led the Indian Navy redeploy its frontline assets to the north Arabian Sea for operations which will put the Pakistan Navy on the back foot.The naval build up consisted of aircraft carrier, nuclear-powered attack submarines and scores of frontline warships and maritime aircraft.

Experts and senior navy officials said the naval mobilisation was the biggest since Operation Parakram following the December 2001 terror attack on Parliament that brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war.

India had enough warships at sea for the redeployment on very short notice. India responded to the Pulwama attack by sending its fighter jets to bomb a terror base in Balakot on February 26.

Apart from a carrier battle group consisting of INS Vikramaditya and its escort ships, the assets redeployed to the north Arabian Sea included the indigenous nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine INS Arihant, Akula-II nuclear-powered attack boat INS Chakra, the Scorpene-class submarine INS Kalvari, Boeing P-8I submarine hunter planes and several destroyers and frigates, two navy officials said on condition of anonymity.

Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba will travel to Kochi  today to review the outcomes of Tropex 19, the navy's biggest exercise, and assess the operational preparedness of the navy.

 Sources revealed that the exercise will provide the planners accurate assessments to fine-tune force structuring requirements, operational logistics, as also material and training imperatives.