India and China Set to Bump Heads at Sea

Although both China and India have long, adventurous maritime traditions, neither has been a sea power for most of its history. Both have been preoccupied with the risks over their land frontiers. China had a brief outgoing flurry under Admiral Zheng He (1371-1433). But it built a great wall, not a great navy. From Alexander the Great on, India’s north-western frontier was the route of choice for invaders. But after suffering from Western imperial expansion at sea, both China and India learned the importance of naval might. Both have globalised rapidly in recent years, encouraging maritime ambitions. Both, in Mr Raja Mohan’s words, are transforming their navies “from forces conceived for coastal defence and denying their neighbouring waters to hostile powers to instruments that can project force far beyond their shores”.