West of Diego Garcia, #India is Building an Island Base of its Own
The small, remote Mauritian island of North Agalega, located in the south-western #IndianOcean, 700 miles north of #Mauritius, has major airfield & port developments well underway.
maritime-executive.com/editorials/wes…
The small, remote Mauritian island of North Agalega, located in the south-western #IndianOcean, 700 miles north of #Mauritius, has major airfield & port developments well underway.
maritime-executive.com/editorials/wes…
2) India sought access to the islands in 2015 to develop as an air and naval staging point for surveillance of the south-west Indian Ocean – in a sense redolent of facilities other nations operate, such as the joint US-UK base at Diego Garcia.
3) The most recent images from Google Earth to the same location as seen in 2014 shows a new 3000-meter runway – capable of hosting the Indian Navy’s new Boeing P-8I maritime patrol aircraft – and considerable apron overshadows the existing airfield in the middle of the island.
4) India regards the new base to be essential for facilitating both air and surface maritime patrols in the south-west Indian Ocean, and as an intelligence outpost. This recent satellite imagery now indicates the scale and capabilities of this new facility.
5) The project entails a new airport, port and logistics and communication facilities and – potentially – “any other facility related to the project." So far, project details have been tightly held by both India and Mauritius.
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