NEW DELHI:
Amid increasing Chinese focus on the Indian Ocean, India is aiming to pitch in with all help to island nations like Seychelles, Mauritius and Sri Lanka to “make up for the time lost”.
While defence component will not be a major part of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the three countries, starting tomorrow, he will seek to deepen the security ties.
Asked why India was focusing on Indian Ocean region, a source said “if you don’t do it, someone would be there to do it. We are just making up for the lost time”.
China has been making inroads into these island nations with infrastructure projects that has raised India’s eyebrows.
In Seychelles, Modi will inaugurate the first of the eight Coastal Surveillance Radar (CSR) system India is setting up there.
The first CSR would be based in Mahe Island, capital of Seychelles.
“This is part of the capability enhancement project for Seychelles in which India is helping,” defence sources here said.
They added that CSR will be based on Indian band and will have electro-optic system besides Automatic Identification System (AIS).
The plan is to have eight such radars for Seychelles with five on the mainland and three on the outlying islands.
These radars, to be manned by Seychelles Coast Guard, will be able to give live images of the coast to the main station. (AGENCIES)
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