The Indian Navy is maintaining constant vigil in the Indian Ocean amid political turmoil in Maldives and reports about China flexing its maritime muscle in the region. At least eight Indian warships backed by long and medium range maritime reconnaissance aircraft are deployed in the strategically important Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
This mission-based deployment of warships in the critically important region helped the Navy to enhance its monitoring capabilities. This helped it recently to detect the presence of five Chinese warships when they conducted an exercise in the East Indian Ocean region. Incidentally, this location is more than 2,500 nautical miles (5,000km) from Maldives.
Stressing the point that the Navy has a robust surveillance system and a real-time picture of the happenings in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), sources said the warship deployed near East Indian
Ocean region detected the five Chinese ships after they entered from Sundra strait in international waters closer to Australian water mid-February. After this, the Chinese patrol returned to South China Sea in lombok straits.
The movement was also picked up by the P-8 I long range maritime reconnaissance aircraft of the Indian Navy, they said.
Officials denied that the Chinese ships came anywhere near Maldives which is under a State emergency since February 5. Incidentally, the Indian Navy has two Advanced light Helicopters deployed in Maldives for surveillance and rescue missions. These helicopters are flown jointly by the Maldives and Indian pilots. Besides this, one medium range reconnaissance Dornier of Coast Guard is also stationed there for keeping an eye on Maldives territorial waters and exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Two radar stations, part of India’s coastal surveillance, are also installed there to enable Maldives and India to get real time picture of any movement there. These radars are linked with the coastal radar system of India.
Reports attributed to a Chinese news portal said 11 Chinese warships sailed into the East Indian Ocean this month. A fleet of destroyers and at least one frigate, a 30,000-tone amphibious transport dock and three support tankers entered the Indian Ocean, news portal Sina said, without linking the deployment to the crisis in the Maldives or giving a reason.
“If you look at warships and other equipment, the gap between the Indian and Chinese navy is not large,” Sina said on Sunday last. It did not say when the fleet was deployed or for how long.
The People’s liberation Army posted photos and a story on rescue training exercises taking place in the East Indian Ocean on its official Twitter-like Weibo account, repots said.
Officials said here three Chinese warships are part of international anti-piracy effort in the Gulf of Aden. While India has permanently deployed one warship there since 2008, China did the same in 2013. The other three ships are on routine exercise in West Africa and are now in Capetown. The other five ships, which conducted an exercise in the East Indian Ocean have returned, they said.
Meanwhile, a month long tri-Service exercise named ‘Paschim lehar’ involving 40 warships and submarines with nearly an equal number of combat, reconnaissance and other aircraft is now on in the Arabian Sea close to the Indian Ocean. The exercise commenced on the western seaboard from February 12. Officials, however, said the exercise is routine and planned well in advance.