Responding to a question, the Navy chief said he would still refrain from calling Bangladesh anything other than a friend, because this may be just a temporary and transitory phase.

“We will have to wait. Elections in Bangladesh are yet to take place, so we should reserve our comments for now,” the admiral asserted.

“We are training their personnel here. I just met a Bangladeshi officer cadet who passed out from the NDA this morning. After taking over as Chief, my first visit was planned to Bangladesh. There was also a proposal to visit a more high-profile capital, but I said no. (I said) I should visit Bangladesh, our first partner. The warmth, hospitality, and the strong sense of nostalgia about what India has done were tremendous,” said Admiral Tripathi.

The CNS added that he remains eternally optimistic and confident that things will turn around as far as Bangladesh is concerned.

He was speaking during a question-answer session after delivering Admiral JG Nadkarni Memorial Lecture on the topic ‘Indian Navy – Navigating Amidst Ongoing Flux of Geopolitics, Technology & Tactics’, organised here by the Navy Foundation Pune Chapter.

Asked about the Pakistan Navy successfully testing SMASH indigenous hypersonic anti-ship ballistic missile and whether it is a challenge for India, Tripathi said, “We too are grappling with this at the national level. Many of our scientists are working on it. This is one of the disruptive and niche technologies on which we are collaborating with DRDO and the industry.” “We have presented this challenge to all the bright minds, and we look forward to your suggestions. I can assure you that, at the government level, the threat and the required responses are fully acknowledged, and a lot of people are actively working on this,” he added.

Asked whether the Indian Navy was integrated the way Indian Air Force and Armed Forces Air Defence were integrated during Op Sindoor, he said Operation Sindoor is still on and anything pertaining to the operation should be avoided.

“The air defence of all three services are integrated. During Op Sindoor, it was done. and the Navy is fully on board,” he pointed out.

Queried on how India Navy is equipped to handle the conflict in the grey zones to deter challenges in the underwater domain, he said the underwater domain is a challenge not only for the country, but even for superpowers.

“It is a difficult environment. All those who study physics understand that. Therefore, it will continue to remain a challenge. New technologies, including AI, are emerging, but in the larger scheme of things, the underwater domain will remain complex,” the CNS said.

He added that underwater drones are being developed in larger numbers and they are in the process of being inducted.

“We currently have certain types of underwater drones, but they are primarily for survey purposes. We are now working towards inducting drones for anti-submarine warfare and mine-detection roles. That work is already underway. Within the service, we are doctrinally very clear about where we need to go to enhance our underwater capabilities,” the admiral said.

Asked whether the presence of China’s spy ships in South China Sea was causing delay in testing missiles, he replied in the negative.

“I have also read reports about Chinese spy ships being present, but I am not aware of any tests or delays linked to that. This could very well be someone’s figment of imagination, maybe even a planted narrative,” he said.
Asserting that the appearance of survey and surveillance ships is not new, he said “we have had to calibrate our own activities in the past as well at times”.

He added that such things happen all over the world and refused to go into further details.
“As far as fishing trawlers are concerned, we ensure nobody enters our waters and does anything they are not supposed to do. So if any such vessel is found fishing in our waters, it is immediately shooed away. In fact, forget fishing, they are not allowed to enter in the first place,” the Chief of Naval Staff emphasised.