Link to Article: https://www.indiatoday.in/india-today-insight/story/navy-day-reminder-a-buffed-up-pakistan-naval-force-in-indias-backyard-2643655-2024-12-02
As the 53rd Annual Navy Day approaches in India, fears surrounding Pakistan’s increasingly modern and sizeable naval forces worry Indian officials. Pakistan’s naval endeavors have been supported by China, demonstrating a shift in the maritime power of the region. This April, a Chinese constructed submarine was launched from Karachi, with multiple warships armed with surface-air missiles, as well as two maritime patrol jets also coming into Pakistan from China. With these new technologies, Pakistan is bolstered in the contested waters of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), creating further competition between China and India in terms of regional hegemony. In response, India is working to modernize their existing resources while simultaneously developing more advanced technologies for stealth and undisclosed “niche” abilities. Concurrently, the Quad continues coordinating the protection of free trade in the Indo-Pacific. India has also improved ties with both France and the US to further acquire advanced technologies to import in order to leverage the growing power aspirations of China and by proxy, Pakistan.
This article is important as it highlights a major shift in the power dynamic in South and East Asia as China takes advantage of the historically complex and competitive relationship between India and Pakistan. Navy Day itself, celebrated annually on December 4th to honor the triumph of the Indian Navy over Pakistan during the 1971 war between the states, highlights the naval legacy of India even as it is challenged in modern times. I think it is very interesting that China is involving itself in Pakistan-India relations by supporting the growth and advancement of the Pakistani Navy. Through this outright support, China demonstrates that it has shared interests in terms of the weakening of Indian regional hegemony in South Asia. By increasing pressure on India in the IOR, China benefits from any Pakistani victory that decreases Indian power.
India is forced to increase their own naval power in response to the bolstering of the Pakistani Navy, on both technological and purely numerical levels. In order to maintain power and the strategic edge in the IOR, India must take action. I can imagine that when it sees India responding to its own import and construction of naval technologies, Pakistan will further lean on China for support both through goods and even economically. China’s path seems it may fluctuate more; I’m unsure how far it will go to support Pakistan, and how it would respond if actual conflict broke out. I’m interested to see how this support evolves as the world enters a new year.
In class, we have been discussing the types of alternative theories, specifically constructivist theory. A major pillar of this theory is that state behavior is heavily shaped by self-identities and its own history. In the case of Pakistan, historically, has always held tense relations with India. In response to this historical pattern, it has shared values with China in terms of decreasing the regional power of India, which can align into shared identities that can form alliances between states. Furthermore, the existence of the Indian “Navy Day” in of itself is very demeaning for Pakistan, and can be a reason that Pakistan searches for increased Naval power in order to avoid another future celebration of its own weakness and failure to protect its citizens within its own borders.