Indian Navy Chief, Admiral Radhakrishnan Hari Kumar said India was maintaining a close vigil on Chinese asset deployments in the Indian Ocean Region, and that during the peak of tensions at the India-China border earlier last year Indian naval assets were kept battle-ready.  w was asked about the situation when tension was at its peak along the India-China border.

"When the problem at the northern borders was there, our ships that were deployed on missions were forward deployed, and other ships were ready.

"We had kept their ships under close surveillance, which we continue to do even now. We maintain good domain awareness in our area of responsibility," Admiral Hari Kumar, who recently took over as the 25th Chief of Naval Staff, said.

A military standoff between India and China has been continuing in the Ladakh sector since May last year after China launched aggression in an attempt to alter the Line of Actual Control in that sector, creating an eyeball-to-eyeball situation.

Talking about the Indo-Pacific region, he said the region has great importance for India, with over $200 billion dollar trade passing through the area.

Asked about the number of ships and submarines in the Indian Navy, compared to the Chinese Navy, the Admiral said India is not developing its capabilities vis a vis any particular country, and it's based on India's own assessment of its requirements.

"We have evolved from a 33-ships Navy to a potent, well-balanced, capable force. We don't look at capability development against any particular country, we develop capability depending on our maritime interests," the Admiral said.

"There are capability development plans in place, since the creation of CDS (Chief of Defence Staff) and DMA  (Department of Military Affairs) we have worked out a system called integrated capability development system which is intended to develop plans. It is a scientific process," he said.

Asked about the formation of maritime theater command, the Navy chief said "We are looking at the establishment of theater commands. Details are being worked out and will be finalised by the mid of next year."

He said despite complicated security situation and impact of Covid, the Indian Navy maintained its tempo and ensured India's maritime interest.

"We remain combat ready all the time," he declared. (SAM)