ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 is devoted to a detailed analysis of almost all the major policy documents officially published by the Indian Navy (IN). This exercise is necessary as these documents like the Indian Maritime Doctrine of 2004 and its successive editions, Freedom to Use the Seas, and the other publications. After independence, the IN hardly ever published as many key policy statements as it did in the past two decades. They embody a clear definition and description of India’s maritime interests, vitality of the sea and its safety to national life, areas of Indian interests in the IO, importance of the navy to the country’s maritime security, missions it has to undertake as instrument of India’s foreign and strategic policies, naval military and non-military roles and so on.
