India has taken note of China’s last Monday’s virtual meeting in Kunming of countries from the Indian Ocean region.
For a quicker response to any military emergency, the Indian Navy plans to rent a jetty north of Chennai in the future and dock one of the two aircraft carriers there.
The Indian Navy is actively considering renting a jetty at a private port north of Chennai to berth an aircraft carrier as part of its plans to deploy one of the two aircraft carriers on the eastern seaboard. This is because India’s first aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya, is anticipated to resume sailing and fighter operations by mid-December following a major refit.
As the Modi administration tries to finalise the agreement for the indigenous aircraft carrier’s 26 marine fighter planes, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu boarded India’s recently commissioned aircraft carrier INS Vikrant off the coast of Kochi.
The F-18 fighter from Boeing and the Rafale-M from Dassault are the two contenders for the contract.
Meanwhile, China has advanced its Indian Ocean agenda by organising a fictitious summit on November 21 in Kunming, Yunnan Province, with the participation of 19 nations and three organisations, although the exact number.
The China Industrial Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCO), according to reports, was founded by Beijing to compete with USAID in the development of the littoral governments in the Indian Ocean region.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi addressed the creation of a forum to promote Indian Ocean islands during his most recent visit to Sri Lanka.
Another concern is whether countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Maldives, and Myanmar, which already have high-interest Chinese loans for infrastructure projects associated with the Belt Road Initiative, will be eager to take on further debt from the communist state.
The Indian Navy is also pushing for the deployment of large warships along India’s eastern shoreline in light of China’s desire to increase its naval presence in the Indian Ocean region, in order to respond more quickly to any developing situation in Southeast Asia.
