- Web Master
- March 10, 2023
The Economic Times/ by By Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury
China is seeking to dominate
Indian Ocean Region after establishing ports at Gwadar and Hambantota and will
soon have access to the Indian Ocean from ports in Myanmar.
China has successfully conducted a cargo run from Myanmar’s Yangon Port all the
way to China’s Yunnan Province. The Chinese dream got boost by the
China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), a portion of the Belt and Road
Initiative that runs from Yunnan Province to the Indian Ocean port of Kyaukphyu
in western Myanmar.
CMEC is the umbrella for a host of
infrastructure projects designed to link China’s Yunnan province to Myanmar’s
western coast and continues to be a top priority for both sides.
CMEC will enable China’s navy, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), to
monitor India in the Bay of Bengal. It will also allow China’s oil shipments to
avoid the Strait of Malacca. The USA and India have a shared interest in
preventing the PLAN from gaining access to the Indian Ocean.
By 2030, the PLAN will have 67 new major surface ships and 12 new nuclear-powered submarines, enough to control the Indian Ocean, according to US Naval Intelligence. China is growing its navy so that it can control seas by 2030 and displace the US Navy as the world’s most powerful navy by 2049.
There are reports that as many as
125 foreign vessels can be present at any given time in the Indian Ocean, the
most since World War II. Speaking during his first press conference in December
2021, India’s Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar said that the Indian
navy might be tracking up to three PLAN ships at any given moment.
Preventing China from gaining control of the Indian Ocean may necessitate a new
Indian Ocean policy by key players.