Show Notes
India's Navy faces two very different fronts at sea. To the west, it has history and geography on its side against Pakistan -- think Karachi aflame in 1971 and quiet coercion in Kargil. To the east, a bigger, busier chessboard: the Chinese PLAN surging into the Indian Ocean and sniffing around the Bay of Bengal.
On this episode, national security expert Sandeep Unnithan joins host Dev Goswami to separate swagger from substance: Pakistan's problem of not enough 'sea room', what the Indian Navy did in 1971 and Kargil, how INS Vikrant shaped the '71 East theatre, and whether modern India should "pop up" in the South China Sea or lock down the Andamans.
On this episode:
- Pakistan's coastline and its geographical vulnerability
- 1971 War: Op Trident & Op Python; Karachi burning, costs and consequences
- Kargil: the Navy's "quiet pressure" playbook
- Op Sindoor: what a modern surge looks like and deterrence without tripping red lines
- China, the Indian Ocean Region, and the Indian Navy area of influence
- Can India routinely show up east of Malacca or is gatekeeping the chokepoints the smarter flex?
Produced by Taniya Dutta
Sound mix by Rohan Bharti
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