India builds military airfield in Indian Ocean to counter China

India will also extend the runways of two existing military airstrips. Read more at straitstimes.com.

India will build a new military airport in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands at a cost of 150 billion rupees (S$2 billion) and simultaneously extend the runways of two existing military airstrips, a build-up aimed at countering China’s expanding presence in the Indian Ocean.

The new airport, which will also be used for tourism, will be constructed on the Great Nicobar Island, the southernmost part of the archipelago, about 74km from the Malacca Strait, one of the world’s busiest maritime choke points. The project is located in an ecologically sensitive region.

Approved by the federal Cabinet, the build-up will be “steered” by the Defence Ministry, Mr Devendra Kumar Joshi, top administrator of the island chain, said in New Delhi on Feb 27.

“We expect the first flights to start operating in around three years time.”

Mr Joshi, a former chief of Indian naval forces, was speaking at the United Services Institution of India, a defence ministry backed think-tank. The new airfield will have two runways and can sustain large aircraft including civilian flights, he said.

Roughly a third of global trade – and the bulk of China’s energy imports – passes through the strait, which has become a strategic fulcrum as Beijing vies for influence in the Indo-Pacific.