Chennai:
In a bid to enhance India’s naval
presence in East Coast, Indian Navy is studying Islands in the Andaman
and Nicobar stretch for setting up forward operating posts, according to
a top Indian Navy officer.
Speaking to Express on the sidelines
of INS Sudarshini’s voyage to nine nation Association of South East Asian
Nations (ASEAN), Vice Admiral V K Namballa, Director General Naval Projects,
said that the decision to set up the posts, a secured forward military operation to
support tactical operations, following the growing presence of Chinese in the
region is to strengthen East Coast as part of India’s Look East Policy.
The decision to set up FOPs in the
Andaman and Nicobar Islands comes in the wake of the commissioning of INS Baaz,
India’s first naval air station at the Campbell Bay, located in the southern
most tip of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, overlooks the crucial Malacca Strait
while dominating the Six-Degree Channel.
Indian Navy is also signing
memorandum of understanding with private ports in Tamil Nadu coast for fuelling
and berthing. “We only had this facility with public sector ports. Now we will
be signing MoUs with Karaikal Port, Ennore Port, Katpuli port and other private
ports,” Namballa said. This would be crucial for Indian Navy’s operational
turnaround facilities along the entire coast to maximize the reach of ships and
aircraft on patrol.
No comments:
Post a Comment