The Growing Power of the Indian Navy: Westward Bound

India is a rapidly developing nation enjoying impressive economic growth. Hence the country's efforts to protect those interests through maritime diplomacy and, in the same context, project its maritime power in relevant regions. This article reviews India’s gradual rise to the status of international power and its growing interest in the “expanded neighborhood,” with a focus on the western section of that “neighborhood.” This comprises, rst and foremost, the maritime region west of India through the Strait of Hormuz in the north and the Gulf of Aden and Horn of Africa in the south, and also includes the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and the East African coast. The terms “power projection,” “sea power,” and “blue-water navy” will be explained through a review of the Indian Navy’s development and its potential deployment west of India. Lastly, and in view of these trends, the article examines the implications of that developing potential for Israel.