But, first, a brief background. In the 1965 war, the Indian Navy was assigned a defensive role and directed not to operate north of Porbandar. This was to result, among other things, in a furtive raid on Dwarka by the Pakistan Navy. While it was completely inconsequential and resulted in no damage, it led to some uninformed criticism of the Indian Navy. It also caused a lot of disquiet in the rank and file about being deprived of action and Navy’s inherent flexibility not being utilised. The Navy’s senior officers were determined that should another opportunity arise, the Service must not...