The Narendra Modi authorities has deployed deterrence competencies in island territories of Andamans and Nicobar Islands to assignment dominance withinside the Indian Ocean and counter the increasing Chinese naval footprint withinside the region.
While the country wide safety planners and army are tight-lipped approximately the deterrence competencies with the tri-carrier AN Command, India is tracking the Chinese aided hobby withinside the close by Coco Islands of Myanmar and at Ream country wide park in Cambodia close to a naval base in Sihanoukville province. Beijing`s strategic footprint may be visible in Hambantota port in Sri Lanka, Gwadar in Balochistan, Chah Bahar in Iran and at Khalifa port in UAE other than its first remote places army base in east African country of Djibouti.
Intelligence inputs endorse that the Myanmar junta had prolonged and widened the runway at Coco Island strip from 1300 to 2300 meters in addition to built sheds in 2021-2022 with shipping plane running from the strip for imparting the island, simply fifty five km north of Indian AN islands. While there’s no everlasting presence of Chinese on Coco Islands, they may be regularly visible at the faraway Myanmar outpost with a few one hundred fifty Myanmar employees published on Coco.
Although there’s no proof as such, India expects an air protection and air surveillance functionality to return back up at the southern tip of Coco in which the development of a causeway, connecting the southern tip to the subsequent island, and land clearing is presently taking place.
A comparable air protection and air surveillance functionality with an accelerated radar machine is anticipated at Ream National Park, which US suspects could be the second one Chinese remote places base after Djibouti and the primary PLA base withinside the Indo-Pacific. Cambodia and Laos are the nearest Chinese companions in ASEAN with the PLA and Cambodian Navy conserving the primary joint naval exercising in Cambodian waters closing month.
While each Myanmar and Cambodia deny that they may be a part of the Chinese gameplan, records at the floor are to the opposite and each the countries are part of Beijing`s Belt Road Initiative (BRI) and haven’t any financial assets to spare to increase air defence competencies and hardened shelters.
Given the Chinese increasing footprint withinside the Indo-Pacific and the common presence of its strategic vessels withinside the Indo-Pacific, the Indian safety planners have sped up army infrastructure improve at AN Islands in addition to Lakshadweep Islands. Deterrence competencies primarily based totally on land and at sea were deployed as paintings is being driven in Great Nicobar Island for improvement of Campbell Bay. Similar deterrence competencies were deployed at the east coast of India in Andhra Pradesh with the Indian Navy`s jap command to counter any army challenge. The AN Command in destiny turns into the primary line of defence for the Indian army and be a part of a theatre command with recognition on growing China.