Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba on Tuesday gave his stamp of approval to a new deployment pattern that seeks to position mission-ready Indian warships and aircraft along critical sea lanes of communications and choke points. Lanba ordered the scaling up of the navy’s maritime footprint on the opening day of the naval commanders’ conference, amid growing sightings of Chinese naval assets in the Indian Ocean region. The deployment of Chinese naval units in the Indian Ocean is being closely monitored by the Indian Navy - it sighted more than a dozen Chinese warships in the Indian Ocean in May-June including submarines, destroyers and intelligence-gathering vessels. Navy officials said anti-piracy patrols and freedom of navigation were the reasons cited by China for its rising presence in the region. The Djibouti base will boost Beijing’s ability to sustain naval units in the Indian Ocean.

Source: Hindustan Times October 25, 2017 03:11 UTC