Kamal Ghorui
The Indian Navy will hold it’s first ever Commanders’ Conference in New Delhi. The top naval commanders conference will offer a platform for the leadership to review the navy’s capability development roadmap in view of the rapidly changing geopolitical landscape. The top naval commanders will also review the organisation’s operational posture to protect India’s maritime interests and strategic alignment with the country’s security objectives.The three-day conference will be organised at Nau Sena Bhawan from April 14 and is slated to be organised biannually. Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral DK Tripathi, operational commanders and senior naval officers will attend the conference. The naval brass is expected to review plans to address multi-dimensional challenges in the ongoing geo-strategic environment.Besides addressing the current security situation, the naval leadership is also expected to discuss improving the navy’s capabilities in order to achieve, what the navy calls, decisive operational success. Training, human capital related issues, use of unmanned systems and improving combat readiness will be other key areas of focus. Another area that the navy leadership are scheduled to discuss in the meeting is the implementation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data-driven technologies across the navy.The Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan and Home Secretary Govind Mohan will also address the conference. These interactions are aimed at improving interoperability between the three services and also with other civilian agencies. Better coordination with other agencies will help in improving the national security architecture through a collaborative approach. The conference will also help align the navy’s coordination with the army and the air force in a post Operation Sindoor environment.The Naval Commander’s Conference is being held at a time when significant naval actions are taking place off India’s west coast. The ongoing conflict in West Asia has a significant naval activities. The presence of multi-national forces off India’s west coast. Naval operations, including the blockading of the Strait of Hormuz has raised questions about India’s energy security.To meet these challenges the Indian Navy’s leadership will discuss ways to overcome current challenges. The navy is looking to improve the navy’s focus on sustained operations, expanding cooperation with partners from other countries and expand efforts to further indigenisation across the fleet.
