New Delhi: As part of its ongoing "string of pearls" policy of encirclement in India's neighbourhood, China has upgraded the geopolitical strategy from economic measures to a plain military approach. Beijing has either upgraded the economic infrastructure like airports and ports for military purposes or deployed assets to counter India in the region. China has launched an underwater terrain mapping through its assets deployed in the Maldives to identify sensors put in place by India deep under the sea and Beijing's move could be aimed at targeting Indian defence research establishments along the coastline.
China has also upgraded its electronic surveillance on a 24/7 basis in the Bay of Bengal region, where India’s coastline is dotted with missile testing sites. The underwater terrain mapping covers these defence establishments. Chinese strategic interest is to disrupt India’s technological capacity through electronic means, geopolitical analysts said.
Beijing has also put in place a discreet naval task force comprising command-level assets like research vessels, submarines, destroyers and frigates for mounting electronic surveillance against India. These assets, when clubbed, are at the level of aircraft carrier strength, they said.
China has already expanded its naval footprint in Sri Lanka by deploying research vessels to keep an eye on the Indian Ocean and is now building an airstrip in the Great Coco Island of Myanmar, which is set to be operationalised in February 2025. The Great Coco Island is located barely 55 km north of the strategic Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands come under India’s sole operational tri-services command, equipped with a number of strategic naval and air force bases. Reports have earlier suggested China has been using Great Coco Island as a listening post for spying against India.
Beijing also has plans to deploy research vessels on a permanent basis close to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Chinese and Pak Navies’ joint exercise is scheduled for January next year along India’s maritime boundary in the Arabian Sea.
China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) military base in Djibouti has been upgraded from a turnaround and refuelling facility to repair and refurbishment infrastructure.
China and Pakistan have also teamed up to seal a conceptual agreement on a joint task force to secure the Gwadar port. The task force will boast of destroyers and frigates as assets and this will enable China to establish a permanent naval base.
Gwadar port was originally constructed by China for commercial purposes, but it is now all set to be converted into a full-fledged military facility to be held by Beijing. The move will accord military advantage to China in the Indian Ocean. The joint task force is aimed at countering the airstrip built by Indian Lakshadweep.
Besides Pakistan, Chinese naval assets in significant numbers are deployed in the maritime region of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives and Myanmar, all of which fall in the Indian neighbourhood.
In the 1971 war, India had destroyed Karachi city and inflicted a $100 billion loss to Pakistan. The Pak military establishment has not come to terms with the losses at the hands of Indian forces and Islamabad is now apparently provoking PLAN to develop capacities and capabilities for staging similar attacks as and when required against New Delhi.
According to domain experts, the research vessels are designed to monitor marine life as well as Internet cables, underwater mines, sensors and pipelines. Jamming the cables can lead to major disruptions against the adversary. Indian offensive capabilities in underwater terrains are fast catching up amid jacked-up research to enhance the capabilities in the domain.
Underwater sensors are deployed by different countries to detect incoming assets and the Chinese research vessels are capable of mapping these sensors.
In the backdrop of China putting hold on UN sanctions against Pakistani terrorists, it will not be a wonder if Beijing equips anti-India terror groups like Lashkar-e-Tayyaba to target New Delhi’s interests.
