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Hindu, 09-06-2017
Ready to counter China’s plans: Lanba
Dinakar Peri
NEW DELHI,JUNE 09, 2017 00:00 IST
UPDATED:JUNE 09, 2017 04:44 IST
Admiral Sunil Lanba
Navy chief cites report on Beijing building military bases
The Indian Navy is prepared to deal with Chinese military expansion in the Indian Ocean, said Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba on Thursday, while discussing the latest U.S. report predicting that China will build additional military bases in the region and beyond.
“The report by the U.S. Department of Defence [DoD] is an assessment of what may happen in the future… We have our own assessments. Let us see what happens in the future… We are prepared in our plans to counter all this,” he told the media after flagging-in the Navy’s expedition team that scaled Mount Everest in May.
The U.S. DoD report titled “Annual report to the Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2017” was released earlier this week. “China most likely will seek to establish additional military bases in countries with which it has a long-standing friendly relationship and similar strategic interests, such as Pakistan, and in which there is a precedent for hosting foreign militaries,” the report had stated.
China has begun work on its first military base abroad at Djibouti and is expected to be ready by next year.
Economic corridor
“There is the new China Pakistan Economic Corridor project which is taking place in Pakistan. There is the port of Gwadar being built with Chinese assistance. What happens in the future, whether it is going to be converted into a military base, only time will tell,” Admiral Lanba added.
Chinese submarines have been doing increasing forays in the Indian Ocean in the guise of anti-piracy deployments and have docked at Karachi causing considerable concern in New Delhi which has subsequently stepped up its monitoring of the waters.
The report also took note of China’s increasing military exports to countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/ready-to-counter-chinas-plans-lanba/article18870010.ece