India's Naval Help to Small Indian Ocean Nations
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi assigned senior officials in the Ministry of Defence with a task to “identify” and “support” maritime needs of smaller nations in the IOR is being undertaken so as to counter the Chinese presence in the region, says government sources.
This forms a strategy in which the government is looking at supporting the maritime infrastructure of friendly foreign countries. The PM has recently commissioned Barracuda — India’s first ever export warship — in Mauritius on the island country’s national day on March 12 is set to be followed by a bigger orders from countries in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
According to a report from Reuters, Modi will offer island nations in the Indian Ocean a broad range of military and civilian assistance next week in a bid to wrest back some of the influence China has gained by spending billions of dollars in the region.
Modi will make the pledges during a visit to Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Mauritius and Seychelles after decades of neglect by successive Indian governments. His trip to Sri Lanka will be the first in 28 years by an Indian prime minister.
New Delhi is hoping to tie the islands into a closer security embrace. India has a role as a net security provider in the Indian Ocean region, said a defence official. The country is providing patrol ships, surveillance radars and ocean mapping for the island states.
However, China has increased its influence in the region, reports Reuters.
“China has built seaports, power plants and highways across the small island nations. Its navy has also made forays into the Indian Ocean, including when submarines docked last year in Sri Lanka, rattling New Delhi, which has an uneasy relationship with Beijing,” reported Reuters.
Early this week, the US said that they “share” India’s concern about “what China is doing in South China Sea”.
