Navy Chief on a Self-Reliant Navy That Can Fight and Sustain Itself: Blue-Water Power, Aatmanirbharta and Strategic Autonomy

A blue-water navy is a navy that can sail far out into the open ocean, stay there for a long time, and fight there if needed, far away from its own coast. The name comes from the deep blue colour of the open sea, as opposed to the muddy brown of rivers and the greenish water near coasts. Only a few countries have true blue-water navies, because it needs large ships, long-range weapons, and a strong system to keep ships supplied with fuel, food and ammunition. India has openly set itself the goal of becoming one.

Aatmanirbharta is the Hindi word for self-reliance. In defence, it means India should be able to design and make its own weapons, ships and equipment, so that no foreign country can stop supplies in a crisis. For the Navy, the most visible result is indigenous warship building: ships designed and built in Indian shipyards with as much Indian content as possible. The Navy was one of the first Indian services to push this idea, through its own in-house ship design team.

Strategic autonomy means India keeps the freedom to make its own decisions on foreign policy and security, based on its own interests, without being tied to any single big power or military bloc. India can work closely with the United States, Russia, France, Japan and others at the same time, choosing partners issue by issue. It grew out of India's earlier policy of non-alignment, but it is more flexible: India does form close partnerships, it just avoids formal alliances that would limit its choices.