As its naval warships set sail for Somali waters this week, Beijing is at once showcasing a blue water navy that it has so assiduously built and signalling a new political will to use military force far beyond its shores. This, in turn, is bound to constrict India’s own freedom of naval action in the Indian Ocean. China’s strategic re-entry into the Indian Ocean after nearly five centuries demands a sophisticated Indian response that simultaneously cooperates with the PLA navy on shared maritime objectives and pre-empts any Chinese moves to establish a permanent base in the Indian Ocean. In a first step, New Delhi must end the current unseemly quarrel between the Foreign Office and the navy on who should lead India’s new maritime diplomacy. As China’s shadow darkens over the Indian Ocean, the government must get its diplomats and sailors to work together as never before.