Indian Navy monitoring Chinese activities in IOR

The deployment of Chinese naval units in the Indian Ocean is being closely monitored by the Indian Navy, having identified more than a dozen Chinese warships in the Indian Ocean in summer 2017, including submarines, destroyers and intelligencegathering vessels.Navy officials said anti-piracy patrols and freedom of navigation were the reasons cited by China for its rising presence in the region. Up to 15 Indian warships are to be deployed from as far as the Persian Gulf to the Strait of Malacca and northern Bay of Bengal to the southeast coast of Africa.In July, China began deploying troops to its first overseas naval base at Djibouti in the Horn of Africa, a significant leap forward in the expansion of its foreign military presence that has triggered concerns in India. The Djibouti base will boost Beijing’s ability to sustain naval units in the Indian Ocean.The Indian Navy’s deployments are part of an effort to meet any eventuality across the spectrum of operations including maritime terrorism, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR), human trafficking, piracy and narcotics trade.

Admiral Sunil Lanba, CNS has reportedly approved a new deployment pattern of Indian warships and patrol by aircraft along critical sea lanes of communications and “choke points”. This was reportedly cleared at the naval commanders’ conference on 24 October.(In the picture is seen INS Trikand off the coast of Madagascar’s Antsiranana port)