Who attacked Karachi? Will brief today, says Indian Navy. Meet the key officers who guard India’s western waters

While media outlets are attributing the attack on Karachi to the Indian Navy, the force itself is tight-lipped about the events that happened on the night of May 8 and the early hours of May 9. While it is clear from multiple reports that explosions were heard in Karachi, the origin is unclear.

If current reports can be confirmed, this will be the Indian Navy’s first attack on the Pakistan coast after 1971. While the initial parts of Operation Sindoor saw the Indian Air Force hitting targets in Pakistan, followed by the Indian Army returning fire all along the border, the Indian Navy had been waiting and watching.

The office of the Chief of Navy Staff Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi, too, has said nothing about the night’s events.

The area of action falls under the jurisdiction of the Western Naval Command, which is led by Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Vice Admiral Sanjay Jasjit Singh. The command headquarters is INS Kunjali in Mumbai.

The sword arm of the Western Naval Command is the Western Fleet commanded by Rear Admiral Rahul Vilas Gokhale. The fleet’s flagship is the Russia-built aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya. The indigenous aircraft carrier, the Kochi-built INS Vikrant, is also part of the fleet’s carrier battle group. In 1971, the man in this hot seat was the legendary Rear Admiral E.C. Kuruvila.

The legendary Killer Squadron of missile boats, formally the 22nd Missile Vessel Squadron, which attacked Karachi in 1971 and set the port on fire, fall under the Maharashtra Naval Area led by Flag Officer Commanding Rear Admiral Anil Jaggi. The rear admiral keeps watch from INS Angre in Mumbai’s Fort area.

During the Kargil War in 1999, the Indian Navy had launched Operation Talwar, and the guardians of the west had increased surveillance and patrolling in the north Arabian Sea. This flotilla was bolstered by vessels from the Eastern Fleet. The joint fleets were all set to cut Pakistan’s shipping lanes and repeat 1971, if asked to. Reports then had quoted Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as saying that the country had only six days of fuel left by the time the operation wound down. 

Defence