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| Chinese Han class Nuclear Submarine (Wiki Info - Image: Wiki) |
By J. Michael Cole
Attack submarines from the Chinese navy are becoming increasingly active in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and could pose a “grave threat” to Indian interests there, a report by the Indian defense ministry said last week.
Using subsurface contact information reportedly shared by the U.S. military, the report, prepared by the Integrated Defence Staff, said that at least 22 contacts had been made in the IOR in the past year alone, with the latest incident occurring in February. As India is confident that only two navies in the region — the U.S. Navy and the Indian Navy — have the capabilities to engage in such activity, the Indian military concluded that the boats involved were very likely from the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).
Indian media said the report proved that a fleet of Chinese nuclear submarines was making “frequent forays into the Indian Ocean.”
According to the report, titled Indian Navy: Perceived Threats to Subsurface Deterrent Capability and Preparedness, the “implicit focus” of the PLAN appeared to be undermining the Indian Navy’s ability “to control highly sensitive sea lines of communication” within the region. For the time being, however, China’s intent more likely was to determine the Indian Navy’s ability to detect undersea objects. The report added that the PLAN’s “extended patrols may fully overlap with the Indian Navy’s area of operation.”
The focus of such deployments, the report said, was the IOR, a sea area that spans from waters off the Horn of Africa to the Malacca Strait and the western shores of Australia.
Read the full story at The Diplomat