‘Andaman & Nicobar is key to Act East Policy’

The strategically located Andaman & Nicobar Command (ANC), the country’s only integrated military command till now, is crucial as a military outpost to counter China’s expanding footprint in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). ANC commander-in-chief Lt-General Ajai Singh talks to TOI: How do you perceive the challenge posed by China’s increasing naval forays and its quest to establish more logistical bases in the IOR? At the ANC, we are mandated to protect our country’s territorial interests and are prepared to do so. Towards this, challenges change and preparations are made accordingly. Suffice to say that there are no surprises here, and we are cognisant of all developments in the region and are keeping a track of the same to safeguard our national interests. The challenges being referred to are evidently in an adversarial context. While all countries have a right to be concerned about the security of their respective sea lines of communication, we need to view this in perspective and also factor in the required changes occurring. 87853298 Can ANC act as a pivot to counter inimical moves and the militarisation in the IOR? The Indian Ocean has always been a benign ocean where there has been tremendous scope for cooperation by everyone, and India’s central role and peninsular orientation in the IOR lends itself to supporting net maritime security in the region. The A&N Islands provide an additional strategic outreach towards the same. Over the years, the efforts of development have been towards security and growth for all in the region. The ANC has been a pivot in India’s ‘Act East’ and ‘Neighbourhood First’ policies. We are witnessing more regular transit movements to and from the Gulfs of Aden and Oman. We monitor them regularly. The ANC’s infrastructure and military assets provide for the defence of our islands and the protection of our interests. Set up in 2001, has the ANC largely failed to live up to its potential due to general apathy and inter-service turf wars? The ANC epitomises the evolution of ‘jointness’ in the current avatar. On October 8 this year, we completed 20 years as a Quad-service integrated theatre command of the army, navy, air force and coast guard. The ANC has matured greatly in its manner of integration, training, and a common approach to operations, logistics and sustenance. Over the years, with infrastructure development, the assets based here have increased manifold, and so have our communications, networking and maritime domain awareness. In addition, the creation of the office of the chief of defence staff (CDS) has greatly empowered both us and the HQ Integrated Defence Staff with better control, continuity and clarity in multi-service and multi-domain operations. In review, I feel ANC has greatly lived up to its envisaged mandate and the A&N Islands have progressed from the initial outpost that they were, to a so-called springboard and now a veritable hub of activities in the region. Yes, there are always turf and quid pro quo considerations when services look at their own interests. Therefore, in the shorter, more intense and less forgiving battlefields of tomorrow, our government has rightly identified ‘theatrisation’ as the way ahead for better integration and coordination of resources. As the ANC continues to grow ever stronger, I am confident the jointness and evolution built up at the ANC will continue to be illustrative, and pave the way for the larger theatrisation efforts at hand. What is now being done to upgrade the ANC both in terms of military force levels and infrastructure? These are ongoing issues, many of which you would understand are classified. I can only reassure you that they are, with the CDS’s appointment as well as the government’s clear directions, getting the due recognition they deserve. Even in the non-military domain, the Niti Aayog, as well as the Island Development Agency have already announced numerous initiatives for further development of the A&N Islands. In August 2020, we already had the fast-tracking of the undersea data link putting the A&N Islands on the data backbone of digital connectivity. The days of psychological separation from the mainland therefore now remain only in folklore. The airport at Port Blair will also become an international one with regional connectivity by 2022. A lot has also already been done, and far more is in the pipeline, to give a fillip to tourism at the islands. The islands in the future are also to become an important trans-shipment hub for our mainland. Though fighter jets and P-8I maritime patrol aircraft occasionally operate from the archipelago, is there a plan to permanently base them there? As mentioned, there are many plans for many eventualities. The P-8I is a very potent multi-tasking platform. It has been regularly deployed at the ANC and has been well-integrated into our operations. Capability development, in part by enhancing and strengthening of our airfields to base forces as per our operational needs, is and will remain an ongoing process at our islands. What lessons can be drawn from the ANC as India moves towards establishing integrated theatre commands? There is much the services are learning from us in the larger theatrisation endeavour at hand. ANC theatrisation has greatly increased our capabilities manifold over the simple sum of our individual components. In so synergising, we have also saved precious government resources, and also greatly benefitted operationally from the shorter decision cycles which will make a big difference in the speedier networked battles of tomorrow.