India, Aug. 14 -- In March 2024, Indian marine commandos were airdropped near a hijacked bulk carrier off Somalia. They freed 17 sailors. Thirty-five pirates surrendered after a 40-hour standoff. The ship lay thousands of kilometres from Mumbai. India could act only because Indian warships were already on station nearby. That, in one sentence, is the case for more aircraft carriers and warships.

Sea Power has Always Followed Economic Power

History rarely separates the two. Venice financed medieval Europe from its galleys. The Dutch Republic turned a modest coastline into a global exchange. Britain then industrialised, and the Royal Navy kept its trade lanes open. Later, Alfred Thayer Mahan convinced Washington that prosperity and fleets...