Defence Minister calls for increasing defence capacity amid deepening China-Pak strategic nexus; Second phase of Project Seabird to give Indian Navy strategic depth
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    • Amid China's latest decision to equip Pakistan with 50 new JF-17 Thunder combat jets under a co-production agreement, India's Defence Minister A. K Antony has called for increasing India's own capability to counter the coming threat. Defence Minister noted that growing defence ties between Islamabad and Beijing is a matter of serious concern for India and it is now time to increase the country's defence capacity.1 Responding to questions after addressing the unified commanders' conference in New Delhi, he stated, “It's a matter of serious concern for us. The main thing is that we too will have to increase our (military) capabilities. That is the only answer,”.2 With the US keen to get out from the region or maintain a minimum deterrent force, India is expecting realignment in the region and is closely watching Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Geelani's visit to China.3

    In another development, reports noted that the large-scale expansion of India's Sea Bird Naval base will turn the Karwar base into the largest defence zone, not only in India, but in Asia. Work for the second phase of the base has already begun .The cost of completion of the second phase will be over Rs 1, 25,000 crore, which is five times the amount spent in the first phase. The first phase of Project Seabird, completed in 2005 involved the construction of a large new naval base (INS Kadamba) at Karwar in Karnataka, for exclusive use by the Indian Navy. The primary motivation for building a new base on the western coast is the overcrowding at the major harbours of Mumbai and Vishakhapatnam, as well as at the smaller ports of Kochi and Goa, which the Indian Navy has to share with commercial vessels, often resulting in delay in docking of the naval vessels. The Karwar Sea Bird Naval base is one of the most strategic naval bases in the world and in the second phase will get additional jetties, dockyards, airports, and transit system which will turn India’s maritime power into a force the enemy will think twice to reckon with The construction of the Karwar Naval base is part of an initiative of the Indian Navy to develop a blue water navy and to acquire strategic depth. The project was first envisioned by the Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Oscar Stanley Dawson during the 1980s. However, the initiative was not adopted until 1999, under the tenure of Defence Minister, George Fernandes, who spearheaded a new drive to realise the project under the name Project Seabird.4

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