EAM Jaishankar raises concern over "steady increase in Chinese naval presence" in Indian Ocean
S Jaishankar raised concern over the «steady increase in Chinese naval presence» in the Indian Ocean and called «to prepare for a far greater presence of Beijing than seen ever before.»
Speaking at the 'Discussion at Council on Foreign Relations' in New York, Jaishankar said, «Last 20 -25 years, there has been a steady increase in the Chinese naval presence and activity in the Indian Ocean, but there has been a very sharp increase in the size of Chinese naval. When you have a very much bigger navy, that navy is going to be visible in terms of its deployment somewhere.»
The EAM further said that New Delhi does watch these developments «very carefully» for any security implications.
«In our own case, we have seen Chinese port activity, and buildings, you mentioned Gwadar, there is a port called Hambantota in Sri Lanka.
There are a few others. In many cases, I would say looking back, the governments of the day, and the policymakers of the day perhaps underestimated the importance of this and how these ports could work in the future.
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