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As India launched Operation Sindoor in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack, the Indian Navy played a quiet but decisive role—deterring escalation, bottling up Pakistani forces, and positioning for surgical retaliation if called upon.
In a rare operational disclosure, Vice Admiral A.N. Pramod, Director General of Naval Operations (DGNO), confirmed that the Navy was on full combat alert within hours of the provocation, with strike packages ready to target high-value Pakistani military infrastructure, including Karachi Port and critical naval installations.
“We were ready to breach Pakistan’s maritime boundaries and strike its infrastructure. Our carrier battle group operated with complete dominance,” said Vice Admiral Pramod at a post-operation briefing at the National Media Centre.
Carrier Battle Group: Deterrence Delivered at Sea
At the heart of India’s maritime posture was INS Vikrant, the Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, flanked by a powerful Carrier Battle Group (CBG). This armada included:
- Kolkata-class destroyers armed with BrahMos cruise missiles,
- Talwar-class frigates equipped for stealth strikes,
- Kalvari-class submarines—India’s silent underwater threat.
Stationed in the northern Arabian Sea, this force ensured complete maritime dominance, locking down Pakistan’s southern air corridor. Pakistani aircraft were forced to remain grounded or hug the Makran coast, unable to operate freely in the Western maritime theatre.
“No hostile aircraft could approach our CBG within several hundred kilometers. Our MiG-29Ks and airborne early warning helicopters kept the skies clean,” said Vice Admiral Pramod.
Readiness That Spoke Louder Than Retaliation
Within 96 hours of the April 22 attack, the Navy conducted multiple live weapon drills in the Arabian Sea—testing strike protocols and verifying operational readiness. Though no missiles were launched, the message was clear: India was prepared to strike if pushed further.
By May 9, as Pakistani drones probed Indian airspace, Indian warships, submarines, and air assets had already taken offensive positions across the Arabian Sea, ready to neutralize high-value targets.
The Navy’s silence was strategic. The threat didn’t need to be executed to be effective.
INS Vikrant: Strategic Symbolism at Sea
INS Vikrant’s deployment wasn’t just tactical—it was doctrinal. It signalled India’s growing maritime assertiveness, with the capacity to hold deep-sea and coastal targets at risk, all without firing a single shot. The carrier’s eventual return to base was equally calculated—to de-escalate without disengaging.
“It wasn’t a climbdown—it was a conclusion. The Navy had already made the strategic point,” said a senior naval planner.
Missile Muscle at Sea
The Navy’s missile inventory could have turned the tide if escalation had occurred:
- BrahMos on destroyers and frigates offered standoff precision from over 400 km.
- Kalvari-class submarines, armed with Exocet missiles, could have enforced a maritime blockade unseen and undeterred.
- MiG-29K fighters ensured air dominance above the fleet, making the Arabian Sea a no-fly zone for adversaries.
Maritime Supremacy as Strategic Deterrence
Pakistan’s naval and air units remained tethered to the coastline throughout the standoff, revealing the Navy’s quiet coercion in full effect. It was more than tactical superiority—it displayed India’s maturing sea-control doctrine, shifting from reactive defence to proactive maritime dominance.
Strategic Posture, Not Posturing
Operation Sindoor reaffirmed that the Indian Navy is no longer just a coastal guard but a regional power projection force. Its ability to maintain forward deployment, generate standoff pressure, and compel adversary restraint—all without direct engagement—reflects the essence of modern naval warfare.
As the Indo-Pacific remains contested and volatile, India’s Navy stands at the frontline—not always to fight, but to ensure it doesn’t need to.
In the era of standoff warfare, India’s Navy proved that the most potent strike was the one you didn’t need to make.
Huma Siddiqui/Ravi Shankar
Dr Ravi Shankar has over two decades of experience in communications, print journalism, electronic media, documentary film making and new media.
He makes regular appearances on national television news channels as a commentator and analyst on current and political affairs. Apart from being an acknowledged Journalist, he has been a passionate newsroom manager bringing a wide range of journalistic experience from past associations with India’s leading media conglomerates (Times of India group and India Today group) and had led global news-gathering operations at world’s biggest multimedia news agency- ANI-Reuters. He has covered Parliament extensively over the past several years. Widely traveled, he has covered several summits as part of media delegation accompanying the Indian President, Vice President, Prime Minister, External Affairs Minister and Finance Minister across Asia, Africa and Europe.
