#JUSTIN: Indian Navy Deploys 40 Warships Across Red Sea and Arabian Sea to Counter Houthis, Pirates
Navy locks down vital trade routes with unprecedented 40-ship deployment.
The Indian Navy has positioned an imposing force of 40 frontline warships across the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and northern Arabian Sea to neutralise threats from Yemen-based Houthi militants and Somali pirates, ensuring uninterrupted passage for global merchant shipping. Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi disclosed this massive deployment during a pre-Navy Day briefing, underscoring India’s transformation into a preferred security partner in the Indian Ocean Region.
These capital ships are currently protecting cargo valued at approximately USD 5.6 billion while conducting round-the-clock surveillance and rapid-response operations. In the past twelve months alone, Indian naval task groups have neutralised multiple pirate motherships, apprehended 52 armed pirates, and successfully rescued 520 seafarers from hijacked vessels, demonstrating both precision and decisive combat capability in one of the world’s most volatile maritime corridors.
Since October 2008, the Indian Navy has maintained an unbroken anti-piracy screen in the Gulf of Aden, rotating 138 warships over the years that have safely escorted nearly 7,800 merchant vessels of various flags through the internationally recognised transit corridor. The present 40-ship deployment marks the highest simultaneous commitment in over a decade and reflects India’s strategic resolve to counter both state-sponsored disruption and non-state maritime terrorism.
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Admiral Tripathi further confirmed that Operation Sindoor, initiated in May as a measured yet firm response to the deadly Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 22 lives, remains fully active. The forward deployment of the indigenous Carrier Battle Group led by INS Vikrant in the northern Arabian Sea has enforced a virtual maritime quarantine, preventing the Pakistan Navy from venturing beyond its immediate coastal belt for more than seven consecutive months.
This sustained high-tempo posture has inflicted considerable economic and operational penalties on Pakistan’s naval forces while simultaneously reassuring international shipping lines of India’s ability to guarantee freedom of navigation across critical energy and trade chokepoints. Certain operational details of Operation Sindoor continue to remain classified, the Navy chief emphasised, as the mission retains both deterrent and punitive dimensions until national objectives are fully met.
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