Need to build a Navy that can fight, sustain without any constraints: Admiral Swaminathan

Calling ‘Aatmanirbharta’ (self-reliance) a “strategic necessity”, Navy chief Admiral Krishna Swaminathan on Tuesday (November 3, 2026) said that there is a need to build a Navy that can fight, sustain and adapt without being constrained by extraneous factors or external dependencies.

In his address at the Delhi Defence Dialogue, hosted here by a think tank, the Navy chief emphasised that Aatmanirbharta doesn’t mean isolation, and pitched for collaborating with friendly foreign countries “from a position of strength, and not from a position of weakness”.

While underlining the need for building greater self-reliance in defence, the admiral also said all stakeholders need to put their minds and hearts together to build a navy that can “answer the requirements of the 21st-century national security of India and make every single one of us proud”. The theme of his address was ‘Aatmanirbharta in Naval Systems at 2047’.

The Navy chief said growing political tensions globally have inflamed “old, historical fault lines, and today one can see the use of force as an acceptable instrument of national policy, or rather a preferred instrument”.

Underlining the impact a conflict can have on supply chains and warfighting capabilities, Admiral Swaminathan pitched for building a Navy of the 21st century that can “fight, sustain and adapt by itself without being constrained by any extraneous factors or any other person or agency… or external dependencies”.

He cited the factors at work in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine to emphasise his point.

Pointing to the rise of non-state actors without naming anyone, he also said that democratisation of technology has happened, and technology is available to both “good boys” and “bad boys”.

The Navy chief also said there was a need to fill “critical gaps” and invest more in research and development (R&D), as well as in niche and emerging technologies.

“Also, the innovation-to-operational-capabilities transition needs to take place in a reasonable time,” he added.

The dialogue, hosted by Delhi-based Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), brought together senior officers from the defence ministry, domain experts from the country and abroad, and industry representatives.

Later, the Navy chief also fielded some questions from the audience, including one on the Indian Navy’s outlook for strategic regions in the Indian Ocean Region like the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the Strait of Malacca, in view of the capabilities of “our adversaries”. The admiral, in his response, said, “We are quite cognisant of the capabilities of our adversaries.”

He said the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a key area for the Navy, and so is Lakshadweep, adding that the naval force is “doing everything it can”, as part of boosting its overall capability matrix.

On the Strait of Malacca query, the Navy chief said anything that happens on this critical sea lane “impacts us”, and therefore, the Navy “keeps a very good watch on that part of the world”.

On a query on India-Africa defence ties, the admiral spoke about the Indian Ocean Ship SAGAR initiative, as well as the Africa India Key Maritime Engagement (AIKEYME) exercise

AIKEYME 2025 was inaugurated in April last year in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, marking a significant step in strengthening maritime cooperation between India and African nations.

It was conducted over six days with participation from Comoros, Djibouti, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles and South Africa, alongside India and Tanzania.

The Navy chief said AIKEME will be held in 2027 and Kenya has “volunteered to be our partner”.

Earlier, the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC), Air Marshal Tejinder Singh, in his address at a separate session, underlined that “Aatmanirbharta is not just a slogan” as much has been done in the defence sector in the country, and said he was sanguine and hopeful that more work will be done in the area to harness the full potential.