Bharat established INS Jatayu, a naval facility on Minicoy Island in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep. Admiral R Hari Kumar, the Chief of the Naval Staff, commissioned this naval outpost while Bharat’s aircraft carriers, INS Vikramaditya and INS Vikrant, stood guard on 06 Mar 2024.

Given Bharat’s defence concerns in the Arabian Sea, this facility is vital and will bolster and extend our defences. Lakshadweep has had INS Dweeprakshak naval base in Kavaratti operational since 1980. Naval Detachment Minicoy was set up in the early 1980s under the operational command of the Naval Officer-in-Charge (Lakshadweep). The Coast Guard has been asking for another one here for years, but the authorities never approved one.

In this context, the Narendra Modi government decided to set up a second naval base at Minicoy. Minicoy Island is the closest to the Maldives among the Lakshadweep islands. The naval base was constructed on a war footing.

Defense Minister Rajnath Singh recently announced that the Central Government is committed to overcoming Bharat’s coastal shores’ economic and military challenges. The Defence Minister said this given the threats posed by China. The construction of the Minicoy military base has shown what he meant.

The Maldives are crucial due to their proximity to Bharat. Just 70 nautical miles separates Thuraakunu Island, the northernmost point of Maldives, from Minicoy. It lies 300 nautical miles from the western coast of the mainland. It is strategically placed at the intersection of commercial sea lanes that traverse the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

An archipelago of 36 islands, Lakshadweep (meaning “one Lakh islands” in Sanskrit and Malayalam) is between 220 and 440 km from the coast of Kerala. The islands are just 32 square kilometres in total, and only 11 of them are inhabited. Due to their location in the Indian Ocean, Bharat places great strategic emphasis on the Lakshadweep.

Minicoy is the southernmost island of Lakshadweep. It straddles vital Sea Lines of Communications (SLOCs)—the world’s leading maritime highways—including the Eight Degree Channel (between Minicoy and Maldives) and the Nine Degree Channel (between Minicoy and the central cluster of Lakshadweep islands).

INS Jatayu, with the necessary facilities and assets, will improve the Bharatiya Navy’s overall capacity to operate in the islands. The facility will make it easier for our Navy to conduct anti-narcotics and anti-piracy operations in the Western Arabian Sea. Additionally, it will improve connectivity with the mainland and our Navy’s capacity to respond quickly in the area.

Building a naval base is consistent with the Central government’s goal of fully developing the islands. INS Jatayu will allow operations for various aircraft, including P8I maritime reconnaissance aircraft and fighter jets. Our Navy will prevent marine pollution in the Lakshadweep Islands.

There are other reasons why such a military base came up in Lakshadweep. We must remember how some nefarious elements in Lakshadweep tried to inculcate strong anti-Bharat sentiments. Some claim their ploy flopped miserably, but the sentiment change remains unknown.

It is of particular significance that Bharat’s naval base at Minicoy became operational soon after Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu of the People’s National Congress (PNC) announced the withdrawal of Bharati soldiers in ‘plain clothes’ from the Maldives.

“There will be no Indian troops in the country come 10 May, not in uniform and not in civilian clothing. The Indian military will not be residing in this country in any form of clothing. I state this with confidence,” Muizzu said earlier this month when his country signed an agreement with China to receive free military aid.

Within hours of taking oath in November 2023, Muizzu, a known Chinese puppet, demanded that Bharat remove its armed forces from the island nation. He came to power promising “India Out.”

Earlier last month, after a high-level meeting in Delhi, the two nations agreed that Bharat would withdraw all eighty or so of its military personnel stationed in the Maldives by 10 May. Muizzu’s statement came days after the first team of Bharati technical personnel reached the Maldives to take charge of one of the three aviation platforms stationed in the country. They will replace our military personnel, whose first batch was required to leave Maldives earlier this month.

Earlier, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had said that two helicopters and a Dornier aircraft in the Maldives would be operated by “competent Bharati technical personnel” who would replace the “present personnel”. Our military troops using the helicopters in Addu City were the first to depart. Military personnel stationed in Hanimaadhoo, Haa Dhaalu Atoll, and Kadhdhoo, Laamu Atoll, are also expected to leave before 10 May.

For the past few years, 88 military troops have been stationed at three Bharati platforms, using two helicopters and a Dornier aircraft to provide medical, disaster relief, and humanitarian evacuation services to the people of the Maldives. According to reports in the local media, the Maldives successfully partnered with Sri Lanka to operate medical evacuation planes, suggesting that it is determined to remove all Bharati personnel, regardless of status.

Muizzu’s government came to power with China’s support. After the Maldivian ministers criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Lakshadweep, the number of tourists there decreased, and the number of people going to Lakshadweep increased. Political backlashes forced the government to act against some Maldives ministers.

It soon became apparent that China was behind Muizzu’s anti-India rhetoric. China stepped in to ‘help’ the Maldives as its tourism revenue dwindled. Realizing that the presence of Bharatiya soldiers in the Maldives is against their imperial interest, China is trying to turn that country against Bharat in various ways. This is why Bharat responded.

China has tried turning Sri Lanka against Bharat for some time, but the relationship has recently thawed. The current Sri Lankan government believes what Bharat says. Pakistan is another country that is dancing to China’s tune. Bharat recently intercepted a ship carrying nuclear material bound for Pakistan off the coast of Gujarat.

Our Coastal Forces use INS Jatayu. Provisions for an airport here for civilian flights to and from Lakshadweep will affect China’s established interests in various ways, including trade. It can also prevent piracy.

It is a long-standing Chinese strategy to pit our neighbours against us. The Belt and Road Initiative, launched for this purpose, was unsuccessful. Many countries have backed away from this, fearing they would fall into a financial trap.

Only Pakistan stands firm with China. Pakistan is now facing the tragic consequences of falling into the Chinese trap. China’s policy of using Pakistan against Bharat is facing backlash day by day.

INS Jatayu was commissioned days after Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Pravind Jugnauth of Mauritius jointly inaugurated an airstrip and a jetty that Bharat has built on the Mauritian island of Agaléga off the coast of Africa in the western Indian Ocean.

China has learned from the continuous setbacks to its attempts to dominate across the border and elsewhere that Bharat under the Narendra Modi government is not the old Bharat. In this situation, China is strengthening its efforts to harass Bharat using the Maldives. Our military manoeuvres at Minicoy Island show that this, too, is not going to succeed.