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India to expand military presence on Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Timeline revealed
The new airport, which will also be used for tourism, will be constructed on Great Nicobar Island, the southernmost part of the archipelago.
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands administrator, Admiral DK Joshi, on Friday laid out the timeline for a new airport on the island chain, with reports suggesting it is being constructed to counter China’s influence in the Indian Ocean.
According to a Bloomberg report, it will serve as a new military airport in the Island chain to the southeast of the mainland at a cost of ₹15,000 crore ($1.6 billion). The project will simultaneously extend the runways of two existing military airstrips, a buildup aimed at countering China’s expanding presence in the Indian Ocean, the report added.
The new airport, which will also be used for tourism, will be constructed on Great Nicobar Island, the southernmost part of the archipelago, about 40 nautical miles from the Malacca Strait, one of the world’s busiest maritime chokepoints.
The project is located in an ecologically sensitive region.
“We expect the first flights to start operating in around three years' time,” Admiral Joshi said in New Delhi on Friday
The former Indian Navy chief also added that the buildup will be “steered” by the defence ministry. He was speaking at the United Services Institution of India, a defence ministry-backed think tank.
The new airfield will have two runways and can sustain large aircraft, including civilian flights, he said.
The government approval
HT had reported earlier in February that the government had invited bids for marine geotechnical investigation work for a greenfield international airport at Chingenh on Great Nicobar Island to be developed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
Chingenh is one of the so-called pre-tsunami villages, from which tribals were relocated to various camps after the 2004 tsunami; they have since been seeking permission to return, but the administration hasn’t granted it.
The case went to the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which ruled that adequate safeguards have been provided in the conditions for the environmental clearance (EC) to the Great Nicobar Holistic Development Project, underlining that there is no good ground for it to interfere.
The strategic importance
Roughly a third of global trade — and the bulk of China’s energy imports — passes through the Malacca Strait, which has become a strategic fulcrum as Beijing vies for influence in the Indo-Pacific. Its importance gives India a strong incentive to monitor, and potentially exert control over, shipping traffic between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea.
Expanding military infrastructure would enhance India’s ability to track Chinese naval movements and safeguard undersea communication cables. For the US, Japan and Australia, the effort highlights India’s role as a regional bulwark against China.
An Indian military installation on the northernmost islet will be refurbished, with its runway extended to accommodate larger aircraft. Admiral DK Joshi revealed that two other airfields in the archipelago, including the one in the island capital, Sri Vijaya Puram, formerly Port Blair, will undergo similar upgrades.
According to Bloomberg, India operates a large number of US-made long-range maritime surveillance aircraft and has recently approved the purchase of six additional planes. The aircraft will be able to operate from these facilities.
