Port Blair, Mar 15: An article published today in Observer Research Foundation (ORF) in its official website http://www.orfonline.org, today pointed out massive development in Coco Island, which is located North of Andaman and belongs to Myanmar but leased out to China.
In the article, the author Vinayak Bhat, a former Army officer who is an expert in imagery analyses mentioned that recently a spurt of activities has been witnessed at the Coco Island.
“Considering Chinese ambitions in the IOR and its assiduous expansionism, there is a strong need to monitor all activities in the IOR especially at the Coco Island. We made an effort to read the Myanmar activities in the island through Google Earth (GE) satellite imagery of the last one year,” he added.
The article which is available at => http://www.orfonline.org/expert-speaks/strong-need-to-monitor-activities-in-strategic-coco-islands/ in details describes about various new developments in Coco Island like massive reclamation of land, Airstrip Expansion, construction of new Naval Pier, construction of a new Radar Station etc.
“New infrastructure development and expansion/renovations of existing infrastructures in the Coco Islands is a worrying development. The large airstrip that can land military aircrafts and a radar station that can monitor every Indian activity from Sri Lanka to Malacca Straits, Indian interests are under careful watch if not under threat. On the contrary, India’s reactions to these developments have been lethargic to say the least. Despite the green and government go ahead for a radar station at Narcondam Islands since last two and half years, there has been no activity at all till date,” said the author adding that India needs to understand the strategic importance of the Andaman Sea and needs to develop the infrastructures in the Andamans to make it a strong military and economic hub in the IOR. (Inputs from http://www.orfonline.org . Photo Coursety; http://www.orfonline.org )
OMG ! our Armed forces need to be extra vigilant. It is almost sure that Myanmar is never going to get the Island back from China after the end of lease period. Just refer to the developments in the south China sea.