Rajnath Singh To Review Defence Infra Of A&N Islands With Eye On China

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will review operational readiness and infrastructure development in the country's only integrated military command at the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, which can act as a pivot to counter China's expanding footprint in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) over the next two days.

On Thursday, during his first visit to the strategically located 572-island archipelago as defence minister, Singh will be briefed on the overall situation in the region by Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) chief Lt-General Ajai Singh, officials told a leading media house.

Apart from meeting troops, the minister will also visit the naval air station INS Baaz in Campbell Bay, India’s southernmost airbase that overlooks the critical Malacca Strait through which China's critical sea trade routes pass as dominating the six-degree Channel.

INS Baaz in Great Nicobar Island was commissioned in 2012 as part of an overall policy to counter China’s strategic moves in the IOR and ensure the shipping lane's security.

The IAF also frequently operates Sukhoi-30MKIs and Jaguars from its Car Nicobar airbase, which is over 1,200 kilometres from India's eastern coast but overlooks Southeast Asia's maritime boundaries, though the fighters are not permanently stationed there.

According to a senior officer, the archipelago provides India with critical military surveillance, interdiction and operational turnaround capabilities to threaten China’s ‘choke-points’ in the region. There are plans to gradually increase military force levels in terms of additional aircraft, helicopters, infantry battalions, artillery batteries, surface-to-air missile systems and military infrastructure to house them in the ANC.

“In addition to major ‘dual-use’ civilian projects, several military infrastructure development plans are also underway. Capability development and runway extension at some locations to support operations by larger aircraft, for example, are ongoing,” a defence official said.

However, progress has been slow at the ANC, which was established in October 2001 as India’s first geographically unified command, with all the manpower and assets of the Army, Navy, IAF and Coast Guard placed under a single commander-in-chief.

Internecine turf wars among the three Services, general politico-bureaucratic apathy, funding constraints and major environmental concerns have all hampered the ANC's ability to realise its full potential over the years. “Aside from land borders, there is undeniably a growing threat from China in the IOR. Upgrading the ANC as India's effective military outpost in the region is critical,” another officer said.