China’s Expanding Indian Ocean Footprint and Pakistan Ties Spur Naval Upgrade Push: Parliamentary Panel

A Parliamentary Committee led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has urged a major upgrade of India’s naval assets and anti-submarine warfare capabilities, warning that China’s growing presence in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and its deepening naval ties with Pakistan pose serious security risks.

Presenting its Eighth Report of Parliamentary Committee on External Affairs, ‘Evaluation of India’s Indian Ocean Strategy’, in the Lok Sabha on Monday, the panel flagged the “strengthening of the China–Pakistan naval nexus,” which it said enables joint military exercises and accelerates Pakistan’s naval modernisation.

“This cooperation complicates the security environment and risks destabilising the regional balance of power,” the report cautioned.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) told the panel that India faces strategic challenges in the IOR, ranging from threats to maritime traffic, piracy, terrorism, and concerns over freedom of navigation to safeguarding sovereignty. A major concern, it said, is the increasing presence of extra-regional powers, particularly China, which is building dual-use infrastructure, ports, airports, and logistics hubs, while deploying research vessels to collect sensitive oceanographic data.

To counter this, India has been working with regional and like-minded partners through frameworks such as the Colombo Security Conclave, Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), and the Quad.

The Ministry of Defence noted that the Indian Navy contends with both traditional threats, naval competition, territorial disputes, and the Chinese fleet’s expansion, and non-traditional challenges including piracy, trafficking, illegal fishing, maritime terrorism, natural disasters, and shifting geopolitical dynamics.

The committee underscored that India’s leadership in the IOR is a natural extension of its geopolitical and economic interests and called for a comprehensive, dynamic strategic engagement plan for all 35 littoral states.

It also criticised the absence of a dedicated inter-ministerial mechanism for coordinating India’s Indian Ocean policy and strongly recommended creating an Inter-Ministerial Task Force comprising key ministries, External Affairs, Defence, Commerce, Environment, Shipping, Finance, and Home Affairs, to close coordination gaps and execute strategic priorities effectively.

Team BharatShakti