Indian Navy vs Pakistan Navy: The Indian Navy and the Pakistan Navy are the two naval forces in the South Asian region of the world. These two navies are focused on serving the respective interests of the nations. India has a vast coastline. Its ambition is to become a blue-water navy with the help of the heavy modernisation done to protect the water borders from the neighboring regions. On the other hand, Pakistan relies on China to strengthen its naval capabilities over time. The focus is on protecting the coastal regions of Pakistan. A detailed comparison has been provided India Navy vs Pakistan Navy after analyzing the fleet comparison, plans, and modernization efforts.
Indian Navy traces its historical roots to its original as the Royal Indian Navy in the British Colonial era. At the time of Independence, the Indian Navy began developing a strong network protecting the extensive coastline. It has added aircraft carriers, advanced warships, and submarines over the decade. On the other hand, Pakistan inherited a small fleet from the Royal Indian Navy at the time of independence. Over the years, its focus has remained to protect the coastline from India’s naval dominance. Meanwhile, Pakistan has sought assistance from Turkey and China to modernize its fleet over time.
Indian Navy vs Pakistan Navy Fleet Comparison |
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Category |
Indian Navy |
Pakistan Navy |
Aircraft Carriers |
2 (INS Vikramaditya, INS Vikrant) |
0 |
Submarines |
20 (including nuclear-powered) |
5 (diesel-electric, no nuclear submarines) |
Destroyers |
10 (advanced missile-equipped) |
0 |
Frigates |
13 (modern stealth-guided missile frigates) |
7 (planning to acquire 4 more from China) |
Corvettes |
23 |
2 (planning to order 4 more) |
Total Ships |
150+ |
50 (planned expansion) |
India is trying to bring improvements to operate across the Indian Ocean regions. The aim is to establish the blue water navy. Indian Navy wants to highlight its strength and capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region. It wants to counter China’s increasing influence in the Indian alliance. Indian Navy is making efforts to strengthen its alliance with countries like France, Japan, USA, and Australia. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Navy is working to protect the Gwadar Port. It wants to work on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Furthermore, the prime focus is related to strengthening the ties with China and Turkey related to naval modernization.
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India showed its naval strength during Operation Sindoor to eliminate the terrorist spots in POK. INS Vikrant emerged as a hero to deter the aerial ambitions of Pakistan. This shows the Indian Navy’s dominance in Operation Sindoor as revenge taken against the Pahalgam attack that took the lives of around 26 innocent people. INS Vikrant is an indigenous aircraft carrier. Its operational superiority helped India to take dominance over the sensitive sea lanes from the neighboring regions. India holds a dominant position compared to Pakistan in the navy. The Indian Navy has been equipped with more advanced technologies as compared to the Pakistan Navy. Still, the Pakistan Navy showed its total dependence on China and Turkey to upgrade its fleet over time. Apart from that, India maintains 1839 merchant fleets. Pakistan’s merchant fleet is only 60. A total of 58 major ports are in India. There are only 3 major ports in Pakistan handling the protection of the water borders from the neighboring regions.
The Indian Navy has been considered globally influential and advanced as compared to the Pakistan Navy. Meanwhile. Pakistan is seeking assistance from China to modernize its fleet over time. India is using its aircraft carriers, strong alliances, and nuclear submarines to try to dominate the Indian Ocean Region. Still, India could face a threat from Pakistan from an asymmetric warfare strategy and Chinese-built submarines. The naval rivalry between India and Pakistan continues to shape the South Asian region's maritime security over time.