Divya John asked: Why is it that China doesn't have a blue-water navy while India has one? Though China aims to build one by 2040 but what took China so long to realise the need for it?

Abhijit Singh replies: Both China and India covet strong maritime power status but describe themselves differently – the former calling itself an aspiring ‘blue-ocean power’; the latter choosing to highlight its navy's potent ‘blue-water’ capabilities. The difference in sea-going status is more about 'nautical semantics' than 'strategic substance', but it does highlight the importance of political ideology in the way maritime notions are conceived.

In theory, a blue-water navy is a maritime force capable of operating in the deep waters of the open oceans. The term is more colloquial than doctrinal and most sea-going states differ on its specifics. Yet, all sides broadly agree that a ‘blue-water’ navy is capable of prolonged and sustained operations across the open oceans, and is adept at power projection in the distant seas.

Even though smaller and less capable than its Chinese counterpart, the People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N), the Indian Navy (IN) plays up its ‘blue-water’ status because of its keenness to be recognised as a regionally dominant force. To make itself relevant to the security and the geopolitics of the Indian Ocean, the IN realises it must dispel any impression that its mandate is limited to brown-water (coastal security) and green-water (littoral defence) functions. The PLA-N, on the other hand, despite its well-developed and growing capabilities, is reluctant to be seen as a 'blue-water' navy with aspirations for extra-regional dominance. Heightened political sensitivities about China’s perceived power-projection in the Asia-Pacific, places an imperative on the PLA-N to define its mandate in conservative terms, lest its intentions are interpreted as being hegemonic.

According to a recent Kanwa report, China has plans to build 10 aircraft carriers that would give it blue-water status by 2030. The report brings out an interesting facet of the Chinese strategic thinking. In China’s telling, there is one global blue-water force – the US Navy (USN). It is the only true transoceanic maritime power, capable of expeditionary operations and power projection in the vast maritime commons. The PLA-N’s prime ambition is to be able to challenge the US naval power in the open oceans in future. The Indian Navy, on the other hand, has extremely cordial relations with the USN and sees the latter as a partner, and not a benchmark for future development. If anything, the recognition of the IN’s ‘blue-water’ status by the USN and other regional navies validates the former’s role as a security provider in the Indian Ocean Region.

Posted on January 12, 2015