NEW DELHI: The Coco Islands of Myanmar, close to the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago in the Bay of Bengal, are witnessing a lot of military construction, including extension of a runway, hangars and a radar station, in recent months, leading to suspicion whether China is behind the infrastructure build-up.
The A&N islands are 1,200km from India’s east coast but the Coco Islands lie just about 42-55km towards the north of the strategically located Indian archipelago. There has been speculation for long, but never confirmed, about China using Coco Islands as a “listening post” in the region.
Latest satellite imagery from the firm Maxar Technologies shows renewed construction activity on the Coco Islands, including a freshly lengthened 2,300-metre runway on the Great Coco Island.
“If China is indeed directly behind the infrastructure build-up in the Coco Islands, then obviously it will be a matter of great concern for India,” an official said.
India, on its part, has slowly been building infrastructure in the 572-island Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, which houses its only theatre command with all assets and manpower of Army, Navy, IAF and Coast Guard placed under one operational commander, as a counter to China’s expanding footprint in the Indian Ocean Region.
New Delhi has also steadily cranked up military ties with Myanmar, the only Asean country with which it shares a 1,643km land as well as a maritime border, over the years.
But India cannot match the financial and military wherewithal of China, which has established close ties with the junta in Myanmar. Beijing has undertaken several infrastructure projects in the country through the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor in a bid to acquire an alternative route to access the Indian Ocean Region instead of its current heavy dependence on the Malacca Strait.
The A&N islands are 1,200km from India’s east coast but the Coco Islands lie just about 42-55km towards the north of the strategically located Indian archipelago. There has been speculation for long, but never confirmed, about China using Coco Islands as a “listening post” in the region.
Latest satellite imagery from the firm Maxar Technologies shows renewed construction activity on the Coco Islands, including a freshly lengthened 2,300-metre runway on the Great Coco Island.
“If China is indeed directly behind the infrastructure build-up in the Coco Islands, then obviously it will be a matter of great concern for India,” an official said.
India, on its part, has slowly been building infrastructure in the 572-island Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, which houses its only theatre command with all assets and manpower of Army, Navy, IAF and Coast Guard placed under one operational commander, as a counter to China’s expanding footprint in the Indian Ocean Region.
New Delhi has also steadily cranked up military ties with Myanmar, the only Asean country with which it shares a 1,643km land as well as a maritime border, over the years.
But India cannot match the financial and military wherewithal of China, which has established close ties with the junta in Myanmar. Beijing has undertaken several infrastructure projects in the country through the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor in a bid to acquire an alternative route to access the Indian Ocean Region instead of its current heavy dependence on the Malacca Strait.