Ukraine war concerns amplified by Chinese comments: U.S. Commander

At the Raisina Dialogue summit, Indian Navy chief says, ‘Superiority between weapons will always be there’

Superiority between weapons will always be there and the Ukrainians are doing better at a tactical level, Navy Chief Admiral R. Hari Kumar said on Wednesday in the context of the Ukraine war, while speaking at the Raisina Dialogue summit. Speaking at the event, Commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Admiral John C. Aquilino said concerns over the war were “amplified” by China’s comments which had resulted in “great concern for the future”.

“We are all concerned with what we watched in Ukraine. We watched unprovoked action to generate a war. This is a very concerning time from the lens of global security. It is amplified by the comments by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) with regard to no limits between those two nations. That gives me great concern for the future,” Adm. Aquilino said. 

In this regard, he said what has to happen and what they were watching was a set of like-minded nations and others around the globe utilising all forms of technology to be able to deliver what the U.S. Secretary of Defence calls “integrated deterrence”.

Stating that this was utilising all forms of national power, in all domains, combined with allies and partners and “that’s what we are doing every day”, the Admiral said, “We are operating together, we are being interoperable, we are sharing information, we are sharing technologies, all together, for a conflict-free and a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

To questions on Ukraine and the performance of the Russian and Ukrainian militaries, Adm. Kumar said, “Superiority between weapons will always be there. We need to find ways and means of exploiting them to the best possible.” In this regard, he said the Ukrainians were doing “better at the tactical level”.

Stating that “we are in a contested present” and looking to an “uncertain future”, Adm. Kumar said, “We try to respond and be the first responder in the Indian Ocean Region, which helps in developing trust, interoperability, information exchange, good practices, and domain awareness. All this translates into maritime security.”

Adm. Kumar further stated that it was impossible for any one country to ensure maritime security. “Therefore, there is a need for cooperation, collaboration, interaction and interoperability so that collectively we can ensure peace for the benefit of our region,” he stressed.