"The Indian navy is very strong I must say," Sandila, who is in China for the 65th anniversary celebrations of the Chinese navy told China's state-run Global Times.
"India is a big nation which has over one billion people. It has made a very powerful navy and continues to develop the navy forces," he said in reply to a question about his assessment of the Indian navy.
"On the other hand, Pakistan and India do not have very friendly relations at the moment, which makes people in Pakistan very concerned about the development of the Indian navy," he said.
He stressed that the Chinese navy should play a bigger global role including in the Indian Ocean.
"The Chinese navy in my assessment has a very important role to play all over the world, not only in the South China Sea, or the Pacific and the India Ocean. China is a big power now and China has powerful navy forces," he said.