According to recent reports, satellite photographs of the Coco Islands have raised concerns for India about the increased activity…reports Asian Lite News
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi reacted to the militarisation of Myanmar’s Coco Islands and said that India keeps a constant watch on all developments concerning India’s security. And India takes all necessary measures to safeguard the same.
While speaking to the media on Thursday, Arindam Bagchi stated firmly that India keeps a constant watch on all developments with a bearing on national security. MEA spokesperson was asked about the Myanmar Islands in the Bay of Bengal, which have long been the subject of geopolitical intrigue. It is alleged that allegation that since the early 1990s, Myanmar has allowed a Chinese signals intelligence facility on the Coco Islands.
According to recent reports, satellite photographs of the Coco Islands have raised concerns for India about the increased activity.
With the Coco Island developments, India may soon face a new airbase close by in a country increasingly tied to Beijing.
The militarization of the Coco Islands by the Tatmadaw, combined with the wider Chinese developments occurring inland, could pose a significant security challenge to India and its navy. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands provide India’s Eastern Fleet strategic depth in the Bay of Bengal and command approaches to the Strait of Malacca, according to an analysis by Chatham House.
Speaking on the issue, Arindam Bagchi said without naming anyone, “India keeps constant watch on all developments bearing India’s security and takes all necessary measures to safeguard the same.”
Beijing has staked a large investment in Myanmar to access Indian Ocean sea lanes.
The past two years of civil war in Myanmar have left it isolated internationally with the military junta, known as the Tatmadaw, increasingly fragile. Beijing has staked a large investment in the country via the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor to access Indian Ocean sea lanes as a way to bypass the Strait of Malacca, which has acted as a critical sea lane for shipping destined for China’s east coast, and direct energy imports instead over land into China’s Yunnan province, Chatham House reported.
The militarization of the Coco Islands by the Tatmadaw, combined with the wider Chinese developments occurring inland, could pose a significant security challenge to India and its navy. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands provide India’s Eastern Fleet strategic depth in the Bay of Bengal and command approaches to the Strait of Malacca, according to analysis by Chatham House.
The islands are experiencing a steady makeover, with tell-tale signs of military modernization and facilities to support aircraft. Instead of the phantom Chinese intelligence post still prevalent in the popular imagination, the latest images reveal that Myanmar may soon be intending to conduct maritime surveillance operations from Great Coco Island, the largest in an isolated archipelago that lies just 55 kilometres north of India’s strategic Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Beijing has staked a large investment in Myanmar to access Indian Ocean sea lanes.
The past two years of civil war in Myanmar have left it isolated internationally with the military junta, known as the Tatmadaw, increasingly fragile. Beijing has staked a large investment in the country via the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor to access Indian Ocean sea lanes as a way to bypass the Strait of Malacca, which has acted as a critical sea lane for shipping destined for China’s east coast, and direct energy imports instead over land into China’s Yunnan province, Chatham House reported.
Chinese commercial shipping could soon bypass the strait and offload their cargo in Myanmar, nullifying India’s advantage. Meanwhile, an expanded airbase on Great Coco opens the possibility that India may soon have to contend with Tatmadaw eyes watching the movements of its warships.
Another concern is that if China were to further apply pressure to the Tatmadaw, leveraging naval intelligence acquired from surveillance flights from Great Coco for desperately needed economic investment, it would give Beijing a key regional advantage over New Delhi, Chatham House reported.
In the 1990s, stories around Great Coco went from extravagant to outlandish
Fears that China could use Myanmar to monitor the Indian navy are not new, especially in the context of the Great Coco. Conspiracy theories dominate the recent history of the Coco Island chain.
Despite efforts to debunk them, they underpin almost all the conjecture around Great Coco, with any activity by Myanmar to reinforce its military presence seen as having a Chinese hand behind it. It is essential then to sort fact from fiction, Chatham House reported.
Growing evidence suggests Myanmar’s military coup has increased Beijing’s influence in the country. With Myanmar’s armed forces struggling to control large swaths of the country and with the economy in freefall, China seems to be shoring up the regime and protecting its investments for now.
Chinese companies are believed to be operating on the ground, building major infrastructure projects such as deep-water ports, while the junta is allocating the few troops it has left to protect them.
In the early 1990s, the first rumours emerged that the Chinese military had established a 45-50 metre antenna tower on Great Coco, equipped with signals intercept equipment. The timing broadly correlates with a warming of ties between Myanmar and Beijing following the 1988 crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Yangon, Chatham House reported.
As with today, this period saw Myanmar isolated internationally and becoming a major export market for military equipment for Beijing in exchange for raw materials. (ANI)
