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Updated March 14th, 2023 at 14:01 IST

Navy Chief alerts of potential arms race amid marathon US-China rivalry in Indo-Pacific

The Indian Navy chief raised concerns over the Indo-Pacific, noting that the US-China rivalry in the region is likely to be a "marathon".

Reported by: Abhishek Raval
Indian Navy
IMAGE: @vifindia - twitter | Image:self
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The US-China rivalry in the Indo-Pacific is likely to be a marathon, said Navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar on Monday, raising concerns over growing geo-political power play in the Indo-Pacific. He added that the tussle between both nations has resulted in an arms race and a competition between nations to exert their influence in the region.

The rivalry between China and the US has resulted in a race to acquire arms as it happened in the times during World War I.

"US-China rivalry is here to stay and it isn't short spin but it will be a long marathon they are engaged in. It has led inevitably to a naval arms race between the West and China similar to the World War-1 era between the allied and the central powers," he said while addressing at the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) on ‘Vimarsh on National Security Challenges in the Maritime Domain’.

Arms race between US and China: Navy Chief

The arms race between US and China has turned the Indo-Pacific into an area where countries are fighting to extend their sphere of influence, "For instance, China has inducted 148 warships in the last 10 years which I would say is perhaps the entire Indian Navy size and the process still continues," he said. "So this arms race has made our resource-rich region an arena for jostling for influence, markets, resources and energy among others," added Kumar. 

The war in Ukraine has revealed that nations cannot operate in a mutually exclusive manner, even during conflicts, “While much has been said about the ongoing conflict in Europe, the fact is that despite extensive sanctions by the West on Russia most of Europe continues to receive Russian energy which underscores that even during conflicts, it is unlikely that states can be completely devoid of mutual dependencies," said Kumar.

IMAGE: @vifindia - Twitter

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Published March 14th, 2023 at 14:01 IST

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