Myanmar islands close to Andaman and Nicobar see increased military activity

The Coco Islands of Myanmar, close to Andaman and Nicobar of late have seen increased military activity, including the extension of a runway, hangars and a radar station, in recent months, leading to suspicion whether China is behind the infrastructure build-up, the TOI reported on Saturday.

While the A&N islands lie around 1,200 km from India's east coast, the Coco Islands are about 42-55 km towards the north of the strategically located Indian archipelago.

"If China is indeed directly behind the infrastructure build-up in the Coco Islands, then obviously it will be a matter of great concern for India," the report quoted an official as saying.


The TOI report said that while there has been a speculation for long about China using Coco Islands as a "listening post" in the region, something to this effect has never been confirmed.

Latest satellite imagery from the firm Maxar Technologies shows renewed construction activity on the Coco Islands, including a freshly lengthened 2,300-metre runway on the Great Coco Island.

New Delhi has also steadily cranked up military ties with Myanmar, the only Asean country with which it shares a 1,643km land as well as a maritime border, over the years.

India's concerns with Chinese incursions

Indian and Chinese troops clashed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Tawang sector of Arunachal Pradesh on December 9 and the face-off resulted in "minor injuries to a few personnel from both sides"

The ties between India and China nosedived significantly following the fierce clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades. During the 2022 border clash, neither side used firearms, and no deaths were reported, but both Indian and Chinese forces sustained injuries.

India has told China that the bilateral relationship cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas.

According to the U.S. News and World Report, the US government for the first time provided real-time details to its Indian counterparts of the Chinese positions and force strength in advance of incursions by the PLA in Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang Sector.