Hoisting the Indian flag on the high seas: Maritime ambitions gather pace

Since the first supply shock that hit India after the pandemic, the Centre has been searching for a credible answer to the lack of maritime heft. The shortage of containers was a clear problem then, as China dominated production (over 95 per cent of the global stock), but there was also a shortage of ships to move them across oceans. The blow to the economy was hard. This time, amid the Iran-US war, it is not containers but ships — oil and gas carriers — that are in short supply, echoing the earlier crisis. India has about 492 ships capable…