Pak navy steps out

Muslim societies with few exceptions, Arabs in the Mediterranean till the 11th century, Turks, Omanis and the Barbary Corsairs, have neglected the importance of sea power and paid a heavy price as the Mughals found to their cost.

Paradoxically, while naval officers despite their small number have the most cosmopolitan worldview in our armed forces due to their sea voyage exposure, there is a paucity of interest in naval strategy beyond the navy itself.

And this faced with an often hostile neighbour for whom Panniker in 1945 wrote that “the Indian Ocean must, therefore, remain truly Indian”, and laid down the Indian policy objective that it must dominate the region from the Gulf of Suez to the Straits of Malacca.

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