It is surprising that the strategic islands of Andaman, Car Nicobar, and Great Nicobar have not been developed all these years into ports and military bases to enhance trade and security in India’s maritime zone. Nicobar offers excellent connectivity to at least five countries to the east—Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka—as well as Indian ports on the eastern coast.
Some islands in Nicobar and Lakshadweep are out of bounds for outsiders, as these are inhabited by tribes that have not had any contact with the outside world. The scenic Barren Island is also out of bounds, as it is the only active volcano in India. There can be no two opinions as far as the need to protect the privacy of the tribes inhabiting some of these islands. There are reports of earlier attempts to establish contact with them and draw them into the civilisational mainstream, which were unsuccessful.
Rules and regulations were made considering their resistance and respecting their right to continue with their unique lifestyle. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes) Regulation, 1956, designates tribal reserves and restricts entry for outsiders. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, provides a legal framework against exploitation, while the Forest Rights Act, 2006, recognises their land rights. The Ministry of Home Affairs has put in place several restrictions and announced specific policies for the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) such as the Jarawas and Shompen.
So, several laws and restrictions are already available to protect and preserve the identity of the tribal communities. In this scenario, there is hardly any need to shelve strategically important projects and infrastructure development schemes that will boost trade and commerce, tourism and maritime economy, and connectivity.
Tap into the Malacca Strait
Out of the 10 busiest container terminal ports in the world, six are in China, and one each in Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). These account for as much as 60 to 70 per cent of the 20-foot and 40–foot (1 TEU and 2 TEU) containers transhipment. Apparently, nearly all these container terminals and other ports in Asia and the Indian subcontinent, as well as in China and the Far East, depend on the shipping lanes through the Malacca Strait, which accounts for nearly $3.5 trillion in global trade.
The Strait of Malacca is also an important maritime highway for the stakeholders of Indo-Pacific as it connects the Indian and Pacific Oceans. For the Quad and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), this sea lane of communication, accounting for nearly 60 per cent of the global GDP, becomes the lifeline to trade, commerce, and connectivity. There is no reason why India should not have a technologically equipped, functional, state-of-the-art port in Nicobar to tap into the trade happening through its precincts.
Besides the economic uplift, a port facility in Nicobar and on other islands in the Indian Ocean can help India resolve other challenges too. By virtue of the gigantic number of ships—about 90,000—passing through a narrow Strait, the sea lanes of communication and the ports have become choke points in the Indian Ocean. Interestingly, in spite of the vast expanse of the sea, ships follow a designated route guided by navigation software, GPS, and Electronic Charting System (ECS), very much like the flight path in the sky. This often results in ships cruising very close and colliding due to massive waves, ocean currents, or simply not following the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS).
In 2021, a container ship, Zephyr Lumos, collided with the bulker, Galapagos, off the port of Muar in the Strait of Malacca, badly damaging the Galapagos and resulting in a huge oil spill. Ships in the Strait are also victims of piracy. A port of call at Nicobar would be of great help to the shipping industry. In May 2011, when Somali pirates attacked the Chinese-owned MV Full City in the Arabian Sea, about 450 nautical miles west of Karwar, the Indian Navy successfully thwarted the piracy attempt with no collateral damage.
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A game-changer for India
From a defence and strategic perspective, defence facilities in Nicobar and nearby islands will be a great counterbalance to the military bases around India built by global power contestants. China has established maritime reconnaissance and electronic intelligence surveillance stations on Great Coco Island, located on the border of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, just 50 km away from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. This should be a compelling reason for developing our military and naval bases in the Indian Ocean. The central government’s initiative to build a shipyard and a dual-use airport (military-civilian) in Campbell Bay to compete with China is a laudable initiative.
The Union government’s Rs 72,000 crore project to develop a container port at Galathea Bay, a greenfield airport, and infrastructure to support military bases will not only provide a strategic edge to Indian defence forces but also add to the trade and economic volume. The government is also reported to be upgrading the Andaman and Nicobar Command (the only tri-service command), expanding the INS Baaz and Kohassa airstrips to facilitate operations of fighter jets and surveillance aircraft, and building new jetties and logistics hubs to improve naval operations.
Meanwhile, the government should also improve the condition of the much–neglected Car Nicobar’s Mus Port. Located 150 nautical miles from Sri Vijaya Puram and strategically positioned near the vital Ten Degree Channel, it can play a crucial role in assisting stranded merchant ships, the Navy, and Coast Guard vessels.
The strategic location of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and their proximity to several eastern ports will be a game–changer for India in the maritime zone and increase New Delhi’s dominance in Indo-Pacific.
Seshadri Chari is the former editor of ‘Organiser’. He tweets @seshadrichari. Views are personal.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)
this is a strange piece. here are some of the points it ignores.
1. given high ecological costs, can it muster funding?
2. is the project economically viable given the high cost of construction in this remote location?
3. this project has already swelled from rs 10000 cr to 72000 cr to 82000 cr to 92000 cr since 2020. why are costs rising so fast? how do these interest payments balance against earnings from the port?
4. if there is a shortfall, will there be viability gap funding? if so, what is total outlay then?
5. the last big quake in the island — it gets multiple tremors each week — was in July and stood over 6 on Richter scale with an epicentre just 60 km away. how is this a good location for building a city for 300,000 people + 92,000 cr investment? we all know what happened with the tsunami on this island?
it is easy to repeat talking points about the port. but it would have been better if the author had engaged with some of the concerns instead of choosing to skip past them entirely.
The author is right that this area needs to be developed as a defence base to check China’s plans to dominate the Indian Ocean. Both anti Sub and air operations need to be enhanced.
To conserve the fragile environment to the maximum, the centre must look at the defence aspects only and drop the tourist and trade ambitions. The Andamans can be looked at for tourism promotion.
The existence of laws has never prevented governments from violating all environmental norms. The UPA was persuaded to safeguard the Gangotri glacier region only after a strong agitation by prof G D Aggarwal. We find that the NDA has ignored the Chopra committee guidelines in the Chat Dham project. Hence activists and environmentalists still have a role to play in seeing that this project is suitably modified to minimise environmental impact.
Mr. Chari is right. There are laws to defend the native tribes in the islands who have chosen to say away from the ‘civilisational’ mainstream. However, Mr. Chari should also know that more often than not these laws do not come in the way of implementing what the government wants. So let us not discuss laws.
Virually all of the experts have deemed this project to be an environmental disaster. This project will also adversely affect the Shompen tribes.
Mr. Chari is right about the Chinese activities on the Great Coco Island. However with its plethora of possibilities in the Bay of Bengal, India can come up with a better plan that harming its own environment and people.
We kicked the British out saying we want freedom and development. After receiving freedom but failing to become a developed country, socialist India wants to develop Nicobar. Good luck with that.