INDIA
China's plans to set up Joint Ocean Observation Station near the Maldives has thrown another security challenge for India
Days after reports of Chinese warships in the Indian Ocean near the Maldives sparked concerns, China's plans to set up Joint Ocean Observation Station in the region has thrown another security challenge for India.
According to a report by the Times of India, China is looking to establish a Joint Ocean Observation Station in the Maldives. The observatory will also have a military application with provision even for a submarine base, the Maldivian opposition leaders have claimed.
The observatory will be located in Makunudhoo, the westernmost atoll in the north, and will allow the Chinese a vantage point of an important Indian Ocean shipping route. The location of the observatory is very close to Indian waters, the report said.
An official agreement titled 'Protocol on Establishment of Joint Ocean Observation Station' between China and the Maldives was finalised last year around the time the countries also controversially signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), Indian officials said.
A leader of the main opposition MDP party said the challenge for India is to ensure that the observation station doesn’t turn out to be another addition to Beijing's alleged 'String of Pearls', which encircles India and undercuts New Delhi's traditional security ties with the Maldives.
Earlier, a Chinese news portal reported that 11 Chinese warships had sailed into the Indian Ocean near the Maldives. The report said that a fleet of destroyers and at least one frigate, a 30,000-ton amphibious transport dock and three support tankers from China had entered the Indian Ocean this month, linking it to the Maldivian crisis.
The Indian Navy denied the reports saying there had been no deployment of Chinese warships near the Maldives.
New Delhi and Beijing are seen having differing views on the current crisis in the island nation. While Beijing has not taken any public stand, it is believed to be backing the current Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen and has in the past cautioned against any military intervention.
New Delhi, on the other hand, is believed to be sympathetic to former Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed who has called for India to intervene militarily to end the crisis.
Last week, President Abdulla Yameen extended the state of emergency by another 30 days, hours after India had asserted that it was important that the Maldives quickly returns to the path of democracy and the rule of law, expecting that there will be no extension.
India has said that it wants to see that the democracy is restored and the situation returned to normal in the island nation.
Yameen declared the emergency on February 5 after the Supreme Court ordered the release of a group of Opposition leaders, who had been convicted in widely criticised trials. Among them was exiled ex-president Mohamed Nasheed. The court said his 2015 trial had been unconstitutional.
There has been an international condemnation of the Maldivian government's moves, including the imposition of the emergency.
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