Discuss the strategic significance of the Indian Navy operating in extra-regional waters such as the North Atlantic. What capability gaps does it reveal or address?

In KONKAN-26 (08–15 Oct 2026), the stealth frigate INS Trishul exercised with the Royal Navy's ASW frigate HMS Sutherland off Plymouth, UK [1]. Such deployments show India's growing blue-water reach. However, they sharpen skills more than they fill hardware shortfalls.

Strategic significance

• Reach beyond the IOR: working in Atlantic waters shows the Navy can sustain operations far from home. It also returns the UK Carrier Strike Group's 2025 visit to India's western coast [2].
• Partnership signalling: the deployment carries forward India-UK Vision 2035, which the External Affairs Minister and UK Foreign Secretary review every year [3]. It is backed by a 2024 Statement of Intent on naval electric propulsion [4].
• Minilateral convergence: Norwegian and Japanese assets sailed with the UK group in KONKAN-25 [2]. The bilateral format can therefore absorb wider like-minded coalitions.

Capability gaps addressed

• Warfighting skills: the serials covered anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface asymmetric warfare and weapon firings in a multi-threat environment [1].
• Interoperability: the ships practised shared communication procedures and exchanged "Best Practices" [1].
• External benchmarking: the Royal Navy's training authority, FOST, ran the exercise. This gave the Indian crew standards-based feedback [1].

Capability gaps revealed

• Platforms, not just practice: 16 ASW Shallow Water Craft are planned [5]. The first, INS Arnala, was commissioned only in June 2025 [6], and INS Mangrol in Oct 2026 [7].
• Procurement delays: the six Project-75 submarines were due by 2017, but the last arrived only in 2025. The Navy is also short of reconnaissance aircraft and helicopters [8].
• Opportunity cost: capital outlay for 2021–26 faces a 48% shortfall, and 65 vessels are still under construction [8]. A frigate in the Atlantic is therefore a frigate missing from the Indian Ocean, where the main threats from China and Pakistan lie [8].
• Evidence gap: the results are claimed only in the Ministry of Defence's own release, and the UK set the standards being tested [1].

Extra-regional deployments build skills and signal partnership, but they cannot replace hulls and aircraft. India should keep them reciprocal and occasional. It should also finalise the electric-propulsion Inter-Governmental Agreement [3], add counter-piracy serials linked to the IPOI maritime centre of excellence [3], and complete procurements on schedule, as Parliament's Standing Committee on Defence urges [8]. Together, these steps would turn reach into lasting Indian Ocean strength.