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Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday lauded the Indian Navy for creating a deterrent posture that “forced Pakistan to remain in the harbour or near its coast,” during Operation Sindoor. Addressing the Naval Commanders’ Conference in New Delhi, Singh said the operation showcased India’s willpower, capability, and readiness to respond to any challenge.
“Operation Sindoor was a symbol of India’s resolve and strength—a message to the world that we are always ready,” Singh said. He described the Navy’s presence in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) as “a comfort for friendly nations and discomfort for those who seek to destabilise the region.”
Underscoring the Navy’s expanded regional role, the minister said the IOR has become the “centre of contemporary geopolitics,” where India now plays a leadership role through large-scale deployments. Over the past six months, Indian naval ships, submarines and aircraft have operated at an “unprecedented scale,” providing safe passage to 335 merchant vessels carrying 1.2 million metric tonnes of cargo valued at $5.6 billion, Singh noted.
Calling a self-reliant Navy “the foundation of a confident and powerful nation,” he said nearly 67% of the Navy’s capital acquisition contracts in the past decade have been with Indian industries. “We are no longer dependent solely on imports,” he said, highlighting 194 innovation and indigenisation projects underway under iDEX, TDF, SPRINT and Make-in-India initiatives.
The second edition of the Naval Commanders’ Conference 2025 began on October 22, with Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi commending the force’s operational excellence and combat readiness, especially demonstrated during Operation Sindoor.
Admiral Tripathi identified seven priority areas for the Navy — combat preparedness, capability building, maintenance and logistics, technology infusion, human resource development, organisational responsiveness, and inter-agency synergy — calling for continued momentum to ensure the force remains “future-ready” to safeguard India’s maritime interests.
The three-day conference will focus on enhancing combat capability, interoperability, and joint operations with the Army, Air Force, and Coast Guard, besides reviewing operational paradigms, training, and adoption of disruptive technologies such as AI, Big Data, and Machine Learning to bolster maritime security in the Indo-Pacific and IOR.
Team BharatShakti
