The Navy has scaled up deployment in the Persian Gulf with an eye on Chabahar Port being developed by India in Iran, amid reports of Chinese attempts to make forays in the region.

India will hold its first naval exercise with Vietnam next week, as part of the overall strategy to steadily build military ties with nations in the Asia Pacific region with an eye firmly on a confrontationist and expansionist China, even as defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman is slated to visit Hanoi next month.

A 1,000 tonne barge, specially designed for carrying fuel mid-sea to the Indian Navy's flagship aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, was launched on Thursday.

The Indian Navy is well prepared to live up to its role as the net security provider in the Indian Ocean, Vice Admiral M S Pawar, Chief of Staff, Eastern Naval Command, said here today.

The INS Arihant is India’s lone nuclear submarine equipped with a B-O5 Submarine Launched Strategic Missile (SLBM) having a range of 650 km.

Less than a month after a 250-tonne 'goliath' crane came crashing down in cyclonic conditions, the chairman of the government-run Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE) in Kolkata has vowed to complete the construction of three state-of-the-art frigates for the Navy ahead of schedule.

As things stand, the Indian Navy is intent on emphasising its pre-eminent status in the Indian Ocean. Even so, the task of constantly patrolling the South Asian seas is imposing a heavy burden on naval frontline assets.

In what will be a significant step towards India’s ‘Act East policy’, India and Vietnam will conduct their first bilateral naval exercise later this month, marking the continued upswing in relations.

That the Australians will not take part in the Malabar 2018 naval exercises isn’t exactly the stance that was anticipated of the Indian government.

The first in class of seven new generation offshore patrol vessels (OPVs), ICGS Vikram arrived at the new Mangalore Port.