New Delhi: The Navy Wednesday commissioned its new naval base, INS Jatayu, on Lakshadweep’s Minicoy island — a significant move for India’s plans to have full-fledged maritime domain awareness and the ability to respond to challenges quickly,
While the force did have a presence on the island, in what was known as Naval Detachment Minicoy, set up in the early 1980s under the operational command of naval officer-in-charge (Lakshadweep). It will now be converted into a full-fledged naval base in due course of time.
This means the base will be capable of complete maritime operations just like the Navy’s other facilities, especially the INS Baaz, located on the east coast of India in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The base on Minicoy, the southernmost island of Lakshadweep that straddles vital sea lines of communication (SLOCs), is named after Jatayu, the mythical creature in the Ramayana who tried to stop the abduction of Sita.
“The base will act as the eyes and ears for India,” a source in the defence and security establishment said.
INS Jatayu is the second naval base in Lakshadweep after INS Dweeprakshak in Kavaratti.
Sources said that more officers will be deployed to the new base, which is part of the larger plan to have complete military capability in Lakshadweep.
The government is also in the final stages of approving a new airport on Minicoy for both military and civilian use. The airstrip will cater to both fighter jets and transport aircraft. The Indian Air Force (IAF) will be the lead agency for this project.
Currently, Lakshadweep has one airstrip at Agatti but that can be used only by narrow-body aircraft.
In a step to boost connectivity, the government has also cleared a 24-hour operational chopper hanger at Kavaratti.
Along with the new base, the military will also be setting up radar stations to enable seamless oversight of the waters around the strategically important island.
Navy sources cited piracy and increasing Chinese forays into the Indian Ocean as some of the concerns facing India in the maritime domain.
The new base will be just about 130 km from Thuraakunu, the northernmost island of Maldives.
The region has seen increasing operations by Chinese submarines and research vessels, and China cooperating closely with Maldives.
Only last month, Chinese research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 03 carried out oceanic surveys in the outside limits of the EEZs of India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives while eventually berthing at the archipelago nation.
India has been keen to improve its capabilities in the Indian Ocean and has focussed not just on its own islands but also helping friendly countries in capacity building.
Late last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Mauritian counterpart Pravind Jugnauth inaugurated the new airstrip and the St. James Jetty, along with six community development projects, at Mauritius’ Agalega Island. All these projects were funded by India.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
Respect to Modiji for spotting the challenge of having reliance on Maldives and using Lakshadweep (our own territory) instead.