Deterrence capabilities have been deployed in the territories of Andamans and Nicobar Islands.
Although there is no evidence as such, India expects an air defense and air surveillance capability to come up on the southern tip of Coco where the construction of a causeway, connecting the southern tip to the next island, and land clearing is currently taking place.
A similar air defense and air surveillance capability with an expanded radar system is expected at Ream National Park, which US suspects will be the second Chinese overseas base after Djibouti and the first PLA base in the Indo-Pacific. Cambodia and Laos are the closest Chinese partners in ASEAN with the PLA and Cambodian Navy holding the first joint naval exercise in Cambodian waters last month.
While both Myanmar and Cambodia deny that they are part of the Chinese gameplan, facts on the ground are to the contrary and both the nations are a part of Beijing’s Belt Road Initiative (BRI) and have no monetary resources to spare to develop air defence capabilities and hardened shelters.
Given the Chinese expanding footprint in the Indo-Pacific and the frequent presence of its strategic vessels in the Indo-Pacific, the Indian security planners have speeded up military infrastructure upgrade at AN Islands as well as Lakshadweep Islands. Deterrence capabilities based on land and at sea have been deployed as work is being pushed in Great Nicobar Island for development of Campbell Bay. Similar deterrence capabilities have been deployed on the east coast of India in Andhra Pradesh with the Indian Navy’s eastern command to counter any military challenge. The AN Command in future will become the first line of defence for the Indian military and be part of a theatre command with focus on rising China.
Source- Hindustan Times.