Indian Ocean Power Play: Why Indian Navy Needs A Third Aircraft Carrier

Indian Navy has sent a formal proposal to the Ministry of Defence to acquire a second indigenous aircraft carrier — a necessity at a time when China is expanding its naval fleet at breakneck speed.

An MH60R helicopter undertakes maiden landing on the INS Vikrant aircraft carrier.

Source : PTI

“Whoever controls the Indian Ocean will dominate Asia. This ocean will be the key to the seven seas in the 21st century. The destiny of the world will be decided on its waters,” US Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan famously said in 1890. As the waters in the Indo-Pacific get more and more turbulent, the Indian Navy needs to be equipped with more powerful maritime assets to maintain peace and stability, and counter China and other expanding naval powers like Pakistan in the West Asian