India’s naval operation during 1971 Indo-Pak war still carries valuable lessons, says Navy Chief

The core tenets of planning, decisive action, operational synchronisation and out-of-the-box thinking by the Indian Navy during the 1971 war still carry valuable lessons for the future, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh said on Monday. The Navy chief said the tactical ingenuity, the deployment of available combat power and detailed planning of naval aspects of the war proved crucial in shaping the land battle.

Admiral Singh was speaking at a webinar organised by the Indian High Commission in London to recount the Indian naval attack on the Karachi harbour.

“The 1971 war was most significant as it led to the birth of a new nation, Bangladesh, a seminal geopolitical event,” he said

“Though half a century has passed since this event, the core tenets of planning, decisive action, operational synchronisation and out-of-the-box thinking epitomised by the naval operation during the 1971 war hold true even today and carry valuable lessons for the future,” the Navy Chief said.

Navy Day is celebrated every year on December 4 to commemorate the Indian Navy’s achievement in inflicting heavy damage on Pakistani vessels at Karachi harbour during the India-Pakistan war in 1971.

Admiral Singh said the Indian Navy considers the operation as historically and militarily significant.

“The 1971 Indo-Pak war was indeed a landmark event which shaped the course of not just India’s history but also altered the geography of the South Asian subcontinent,” he said.

“The maritime facets of the war marked the Indian Navy’s coming of age and established its credentials as a force to reckon with,” he added.

Admiral Singh said the Indian Navy executed an array of offensive and defensive operations on both its seaboards, effectively neutralising the adversary’s ability to use the seas for combat, sustenance, replenishment and evacuation.