Australia Ready To Provide Logistic Facilities To India At Coco Islands For Development Of Strategic Ties
With the USA trying to withdraw into its own Shell, the Australians are looking towards the only Country which can keep China at bay in all the spheres: diplomatically, economically and militarily.
During the Indo Australian virtual summit at the Prime Minister level next month, Australia is likely to offer access and logistics facilities to the expanding Indian Navy on the Coco Island, similar to existing arrangements for India with the US and France.
In turn India may offer similar facilities to the fledgling Australian Navy in the Andaman’s.This will signal political will to smooth out administrative and logistical challenges, When New Delhi starts to expand its strategic collaborations towards the Pacific.
The Andamans & Nicobar Tri Services Command guards the Eastern Gateway to the Indian Ocean Region. Apart from its military assets, expanding day by day, it has two unsinkable aircraft carriers in the form of Andaman island and Nicobar islands themselves.
IAF SU30 MKI positioned there along with a few Refuellers and P8Is will form a formidable obstacle for the Chinese Navy. Also when armed with 800km range BRAHMOS these Sukhois will make any Navy shudder not only in the IOR but even in the Pacific.
In addition to the above, logistic facilities to Indian Navy in Australia’s Keeling island of Cocos, will provide significant protection to not only Australia but most of the Pacific. This will also help increase the strategic relationship between the two countries which currently remains underdeveloped.
One challenge in the relationship comes from political perceptions. Australians are camp followers of the Americans and their underdog the British. However India has been following its own independent policy and has also maintained a good relationship with both USA and Russia.
So Australia looks at Pacific, towards the USA, while Indian priority is The Indian Ocean. However with increasing friendship with Vietnam, Japan, Singapore and other ASEAN countries, Pacific is going to become the secondary area of interest for India.
More so ever because Chinese PLAN has started increasing its visits into the Indian Ocean Region.
A collaborative approach between India and Australia in the Indian Ocean will help provide an opportunity to address these challenges. These islands are located near strategic chokepoints and trading routes, with the Andaman and Nicobar islands near the straits of Malacca, while the Cocos islands lie in close proximity to the Indonesian straits of Sunda, Lombok, and Ombai-Wetar.
Together, these straits are the entry and exit points between the Indian and the Pacific Oceans. In the current geopolitical situation in the Indo-Pacific, these islands can provide advantages for strategic, practical, and signalling purposes. A key advantage of these islands is surveillance and what are known as Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) missions.
While the Malacca straits provides the busiest trading route connecting economies across Western Pacific and the Indian Ocean, the other straits through the Indonesian archipelago offers alternate routes for surface and sub-surface vessels.
The Andaman and Nicobar islands and Cocos islands would allow for both expanded and longer MDA missions across these straits. India already has good relations with Indonesia. However Australia and Indonesia will need to reach a better understanding. Both India and Australia already use their islands for maritime surveillance and reconnaissance missions using P-8 aircraft based in southern India and Australia.
Presently Australia is in no position to expand its presence into the Indian Ocean and as it is, It has no independent role in this area of any kind.Though as part of the American camp, it does provide token forces in Afghanistan and other such places as per its capacity and capability.
There is also a significant demonstration advantage to a collaborative approach in using these islands. Australian Opening Of Coco Islands To The Indian Navy sends a strong political message across the Indo-Pacific, regarding deepening strategic trust between two large Countries of the Indo-Pacific.
Moreover, it is likely Australia will be permitted by India to join the MALABAR naval exercises (India-Japan-US) in the near future keeping in line with the frequent and growing diplomatic conversations between India, Australia, Japan and the US, or the Quad. India and Australia can perhaps begin by using the AUSINDEX as a platform to fly their respective P-8s between the Andaman and Nicobar islands and Cocos islands for a coordinated patrols.
This will allow both sides to test logistical and administrative challenges laying the foundation for more complex and sustained cooperation in the future. This would require political agreement at the highest level. The India-France relationship provides an example for such collaborations in the Indian Ocean.
Earlier this year, Delhi deployed a P-8I maritime patrol aircraft to conduct joint patrols with France from La Reunion, a French overseas department in the Indian Ocean. La Reunion’s location provides access and reach over the western and southwest Indian Ocean, including the Mozambique Channel.
There is potential for India-Australia-France collaboration in using their respective islands to boost proper surveillance of both the Indian Ocean Region and the Indo Pacific Region.
