Over 120 warships of extra-regional forces are currently deployed in the Indian Ocean Region in support of various missions, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat said on Friday, referring to increasing maritime presence of various countries in the strategic sea lanes.
Referring to India's aspirations to become a major global power, he said the country will have to achieve it despite living in a "tough neighbourhood" and in an "increasingly contested" region.
"Today, we are facing increasing security challenges, and to my mind, the best guarantor of peace and stability is to have dissuasive deterrence.
For a nation like India, the security of land borders remained our primary concern," he said.
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