He was 80.
Kavina died in Adelaide, Australia, yesterday where he was staying with his son, said a senior Navy official.
He was the commanding officer of Indian Navy ship Nipat during the missile attack on the Karachi harbour and the Pakistani naval forces on December 4, 1971.
The operation, codenamed 'Operation Trident', was executed by the 25th missile squadron comprising naval ships Nipat, Nirghat and Veer.
Lt Commander Kavina was one of the chief architects of the attack on the Karachi harbour.