@wikipedia
The ANI are two groups of islands: Andaman Islands and the Nicobar Islands, covering an area of 8,249 sq km. The entire island chain consists of 836 islands including islets and rocky outcrops, of which some 38 are permanently inhabited. The islands are governed as a single Union Territory by the Central Government of India, through the
Andaman Nicobar Administration. The ANI is also home to India’s only integrated tri-service command of the armed forces—the Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) for maritime surveillance and enhancing India’s strategic presence in the eastern Indian Ocean.
Strategic Importance of ANI :
Securing SLOC - These islands act as a physical barrier that secures busy Sea Lines of Communications (SLOC) by creating a series of chokepoints: The Preparis Channel in the north, the Ten Degree Channel between the Andaman and Nicobar Island groups and the Six Degree Channel to the south.
While the first two sea lanes are used infrequently by commercial shipping, all vessels that pass through the Malacca Strait must traverse the Six Degree Channel. For instance, the channel acts as the primary conduit for India-ASEAN trade ($ 78 billion in 2021).
Countering increasing Chinese presence ➔ China’s efforts to expand its footprint in the Indian Ocean Region to overcome its ‘Malacca Dilemma’ (China’s fear of a maritime blockade at the Straits of Malacca’) and fulfil its ‘Maritime Silk Road’ ambitions have fueled apprehensions about freedom of navigation in these waters.
By gaining ground at critical chokepoints, China could use them to its benefit during any future conflict or a standoff with India.
ANI’s strategic location allows India to pursue sea denial warfare strategy (denying the adversary the use of the near sea) to dictate terms in littoral space.
Net security provider ➔ India can also leverage the potential of these islands to protect its own interests and burnish its image as the ‘net security provider’ in the region.
Connection with Southeast Asia ➔ Containing about 30 percent of India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), ANI connects South Asia with Southeast Asia. The northernmost point of this archipelago is merely 22 nautical miles from Myanmar and the southernmost point, Indira Point, is only 90 nautical miles from Indonesia.
Important fulcrum of Indo-pacific ➔ The ANI are at the intersection of the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, and further to the Pacific Ocean, an important fulcrum of the strategic concept of the Indo-Pacific.
Challenges in Strategic Development :
- Inadequate attention to strategic importance of ANI ➔ A section of India’s foreign policy community has argued against turning the islands into a strategic- military hub, on the grounds that it wouldn’t sit well with Southeast Asian countries, who perceive India to be benevolent and benign power.
Slow pace of development ➔ Internet connectivity, even at the naval base in the capital Port Blair, is reported to be erratic. Road building, airstrip construction, and even the building of jetties has been slow or non-existent.
Institutional reluctance ➔ Notwithstanding episodic visits by other navies, there exists some traditional institutional reluctance towards allowing port visits to the ANI by foreign navies in general and the US Navy in particular.
If naval vessels and military aircraft of other major navies become regular visitors, it could accentuate China’s ‘Malacca Dilemma’.
Ecological Fragility ➔ Establishing a credible Aerial and Naval presence in this ecologically fragile and ethnographically extremely sensitive region presents complex challenges. The governance parameters were regulated under a protectionist regime to ensure the preservation of natural resources.
The state machinery was also designed in a way that imposes structural limitations on development projects.
These were further sustained by environmentalists, anthropologists and social scientists and backed by the Supreme Court, which favoured environmental conservation in its judgements regarding the islands.
Other challenges ➔
The absence of a human presence on hundreds of these islands has made them vulnerable to narcotics smuggling, intrusion by foreign vessels, and other incursions.
Heavy rainfall restricts building activity to six months a year and the distance from mainland adds to the cost of construction as all material must be shipped to the islands.
Few companies are willing to work on the islands because of the distance and cost. For some materials, importing from Indonesia would be far cheaper and more cost effective than sending shipments from the Indian mainland.
Initiative taken By GOI :
Maritime hub ➔ In 2015, the government announced a INR 100,000-million plan to develop the islands into the country’s first maritime hub. It aims to develop facilities, such as telecommunications, electricity, and water which will help in building and expanding strategic capabilities.
Declining protectionism ➔ In 2019, a new Island Coastal Regulation Zone Notification was promulgated, allowing land reclamation for ports, harbours and jetties. This is expected to usher in luxury tourism in Smith, Aves and Long Islands, and water aerodromes in Neil and Havelock islands. Allowing such projects will help in creating strategic infrastructure.
Maritime exercises ➔ ANC conducts joint maritime exercises such as the Singapore India Maritime Bilateral Exercise and Coordinated Patrols with Myanmar, Thailand and Indonesia. It also conducts MILAN, a biennial multilateral naval exercise, to build friendship across the seas.
Twenty countries participated in the 2018 MILAN edition, making it the largest naval exercise in the Andaman Sea.
Others ➔
The Chennai-Andaman and Nicobar undersea internet cable was inaugurated to provide high-speed internet connection to seven remote islands of the ANI chain —i.e., Swaraj Dweep (Havelock), Little Andaman, Car Nicobar, Kamorta, Great Nicobar, Long Island, and Rangat.
The commander-in-chief of the ANC has been empowered to requisition military assets from the three services, handle land acquisition cases, and been granted additional financial powers.
In 2018, India and Indonesia, set up a special task force to enhance connectivity between the ANI and the port of Sabang in Aceh to promote trade, tourism and people-to-people contacts.
An India-Japan cross-servicing agreement, which has provisions for the ANC to host Japanese warships, is under consideration.
Road ahead :
Encouraging migration ➔ There is a need to consider encouraging migration from the mainland and open up some of the strategically located uninhabited islands to tourism. That would give India a stronger physical footprint and would help the country track the movement of vessels and people.
Strategic infrastructure ➔ In a bid to emphasises its regional pre-eminence, the Indian Navy in recent times has raised the tempo of naval operations in the Bay of Bengal. Reinforcing strategic infrastructure on the islands is a way of highlighting India’s combat process.
Cooperation with strategic partners ➔ Port visits by US, Japan, Australia, France or the UK can lead to further graded cooperation in all the dimensions in the ANI between India and its key strategic partners.
Engagement with ASEAN ➔ There lies an opportunity to make ANI an important element of “Act East Policy” of engaging with countries in the region east of India.
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