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Indian Navy

India’s maritime history dates back 6,000 years to the Indus Valley Civilization. The logbook of a 19th-century Kutch sailor records that the first tidal dock in India was built at Lothal around 2300 BCE during the Indus Valley Civilization. The Rig Veda attributes knowledge of sea routes to Varuna, the Hindu god of water and the celestial ocean, and describes the use of hundred-hulled ships by Indians in naval expeditions.

There is also mention of a ship’s side wings, called rudders, which keep the ship stable during storms. Plav is considered the precursor to modern stabilizers.

The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the supreme commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue water navy, it operates significantly in the Persian Gulf region, the Horn of Africa, and the Strait of Malacca, and regularly conducts anti-piracy operations and partners with other navies in the region.

She also conducts regular two- to three-month deployments to the South and East China Sea as well as the western Mediterranean. In 2024, Chief Admiral R. Hari Kumar referred to the new law as a “great enabler” in the Navy’s anti-piracy success. That year, The Economic Times described the Indian Navy’s commitment to combating piracy as “unwavering”.