Pak shopping for arms post-Op Sindoor matter of concern; China enduring challenge: Navy official

Mumbai: Post-Operation Sindoor in May, Pakistan has been shopping all around the world for arms and ammunition which is a matter of concern, while China, too, remains an enduring challenge on the back of its growing assertiveness, a top Indian Navy officer said on Wednesday.

Vice-Admiral K Swaminathan, who heads the crucial Western Naval Command headquartered in Mumbai, noted the Chinese Navy has already become the largest in the world and has added fleet to the size of the Indian Navy in just last decade and expanding like never before.

He was speaking at a security conference organised by the Bramha Research Foundation.

Swaminathan noted that the commissioning of Fujian, the third aircraft carrier of the Chinese Navy, along with the demonstration of fifth and sixth generation fighters, is part of the Communist nation's global strategic narrative and signalling.

"China, also worryingly for us, continues to maintain five-eight ships in the Indian Ocean Region," he said.

This group comprises warships, research vessels, satellite tracking vessels and fishing crafts, the officer opined.

"China is not only becoming more assertive in the South China Sea but also in the Indian Ocean Region. Therefore, China will continue to be an enduring challenge," he observed.

Swaminathan said Operation Sindoor, which saw Indian armed forces target terror hubs in Pakistan and PoK, and later also multiple air bases in the neighbouring country, has been a significant inflection point and has established a new normal in New Delhi's relationship with Islamabad.

The Indian military campaign was in response to the Pahalgam terror attack in April, which claimed the lives of 26 persons, most of them tourists.

"It is a very significant departure from how we view Pakistan and the response that Pakistan brings about in whatever happens in the subcontinent," the Vice-Admiral underlined.

"Pakistan, of course, after the end of the operation has been on an exercise to arm itself like never before. So that again should be a matter of concern for all of us in the subcontinent," he said.

Swaminathan highlighted Pakistan is arming itself in utter disregard to economic hardships faced by its citizens.

"The Pakistani Army is shopping all around the world for arms and ammunition with very scant regard to what else is happening in that country," he said.

Operation Sindoor revealed new challenges and harsher realities, the officer noted.

"One, of course, was the collusion between Pakistan and China that we always knew manifested. We somehow thought that might be covert, but somewhat over a little bit. But it was undeniably overt in very clear broad daylight," the Vice-Admiral maintained.

The emergence of Turkey as a key sponsor, supporter and supplier (to Pakistan) is a new development that has to be watched very carefully, he suggested.

"This was something we had always suspected and knew. The fact that it manifested a little more than we thought, in a way was a new opener," Swaminthan emphasised.

China and Turkey had openly backed Pakistan during Operation Sindoor.

Speaking further on the May 7-10 military conflict, he said the exercise was yet another demonstration of how the Indian armed forces synergised and carried out very well synchronised, well-coordinated, well planned and well executed strikes on chosen targets.

The success of these strikes demonstrated the collapse of regional assumptions that Pakistan's nuclear shield besides covert and overt support from sponsors and financial backers will deter India from carrying out conventional operations, Swaminathan asserted.

The four-day operation demonstrated the multi-domain capability of the Indian armed forces, he told the conference.

Participating in a panel discussion at the event, Air Marshal Rakesh Sinha, Deputy Chief at the Integrated Defence Staff (Operations), said through Operation Sindoor, India displayed total synergy of all the three services - Army, Navy and IAF.

While the Air Force emerged as the major player in displaying the strategic reach and precision targeting, it was the joint planning at the apex level and its execution which startled Pakistan, Sinha said.

"India (with Operation Sindoor) has given message of a new normal -- that if the enemy indulges in action that causes trouble to India, then it will give a decisive response at time and place of its choosing and no nuclear blackmail will be accepted," affirmed the Air Marshal.

All domains were utilised in Operation Sindoor and displayed the capability to execute multi-domain operations, Sinha noted.

Indian drones were effective during the conflict due to the country's robust Airborne Warning and Control System, he added.