On March 6, the Indian Navy commissioned its latest naval base on Minicoy Island, 360km southwest of Kochi, headquarters of the Southern Naval Command. The base has been named INS Jatayu, after the mythical bird of the Ramayana. The Navy already has a naval base in Lakshadweep, INS Dweeprakshak on Kavaratti island.
The commissioning of INS Jatayu signals India's plans to bolster the security of its western and southern maritime areas by developing naval infrastructure in the Lakhadweep and Minicoy Islands. Customarily, all of India's naval air stations are named after birds of prey. Although there is no full-fledged airfield in Minicoy yet, the name suggests that plans may be afoot to construct an airfield in the not too distant future. The pace of development in the Lakshadweep and Minicoy Islands has been tardy so far because of ecological considerations, sensitivities of the local population and complexities in land acquisition.
The Navy intends to boost infrastructure that will support sustained deployments from these islands. One could expect facilities that will facilitate ship and aircraft turnarounds in the future by construction of basic maritime and airfield infrastructure. These would also cater to civilian use and contribute to the tourism potential of these islands. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the islands last month, and a review of tourism potential was on his agenda.
Commissioning of a naval base at Minicoy would enable a greater security presence there and more effective coordination with the island administration for speedy infrastructure development. It is expected that the naval facilities at Lakshadweep and Minicoy would be administered by a senior naval officer of commodore rank, who will be permanently stationed in the islands as the local naval authority.
Apart from the proximity of the Maldives, the Lakshadweep and Minicoy islands are located strategically astride the Nine Degree Channel, through which a fair share to marine traffic from the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Aden, Red Sea and African coast to Southeast Asia traverses. These islands provide an ideal location for monitoring such traffic and for monitoring India's exclusive economic zone against threats such as smuggling and narcotics trade, in addition to the alarming levels of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing by extra-regional fishing fleets.
The development of these islands and the security apparatus there serves India's maritime interests in the south. The northernmost island of the Maldives is just another 80km away, and Chinese influence on the current leadership in Male is evident in recent pushback efforts by the Maldives against India. While the development of Minicoy may have always been on the cards, recent geo-political happenings in the Indian Ocean Region appear to have hastened the process.
(The author is a former Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern Naval Command)
