India sees new strategic sea lane in Andaman Sea

India sees new strategic sea lane in Andaman Sea

Bill Tarrant, Reuters/Port Blair, India

Indian naval exercises with Thailand and Indonesia are aimed in
part at ensuring security for a new sea route linking the Indian
and Pacific oceans, a top Indian general said.

Lt. Gen. Aditya Singh also said in an interview the military
backs the idea of allowing foreign airlines at its airport in
Port Blair, capital of the tsunami-struck Andaman and Nicobar
islands, to boost tourism.

India held its first naval exercise last week with Thailand
and concluded semi-annual exercises with Indonesia. Both took
place near the mouth of the Malacca Strait, the main sea lane
between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea leading to the
Pacific.

Although India is not party to any security arrangement for
the Malacca Strait, the immediate purpose of the joint patrols is
to prevent smuggling, piracy, drug and gun trafficking, poaching
and illegal immigration in the region, Singh said.

"But the fact with things like the Kra canal, the Andaman and
Nicobar islands will come into play," he said.

Plans to dig a canal across the narrow Kra isthmus in southern
Thailand have been bandied about for more than 300 years.

The idea has some support among Thai politicians but has
stalled over the huge potential costs and environmental impact. A
railroad to carry oil across the isthmus has also been discussed.

Singh, who visited tsunami-hit areas of Thailand last week
with his Thai counterparts, did not disclose any knowledge of
fresh plans for a Kra canal.

But a report prepared for U.S. Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld, leaked to the Washington Post in January, said China
was willing to underwrite construction of the US$20 billion
canal, complete with port facilities, as part of its "string of
pearls" strategy of forward bases and energy security.

"So then you have an alternate route for shipping," Singh said
in the interview held late on Wednesday at his headquarters atop
a hill in Port Blair, capital of the Andaman and Nicobar islands.
"It will be like another Suez Canal."

Ships destined for the proposed 100-km Kra canal would have to
pass through the channel between the Andaman and Nicobar island
chains, he said.

"Now do you realize we will have a very large quantity of the
world's shipping going through? Apart from the economic value,
there is going to be an increasing requirement to ensure security
of the world's shipping. And it is in this connection, that we
are engaging our neighbors.

Oil-tanker traffic through the narrow Malacca Strait, which
already carries most of North Asia's oil imports, is projected to
grow from 10 million barrels a day in 2002 to 20 million barrels
a day in 2020 -- much of it destined for China.

India began its "Look East" policy of engagement with its
Southeast Asian neighbors in the 1990s, following the dissolution
of the Soviet Union.

And while India's ties with the United States have warmed
considerably in recent years, New Delhi remains sensitive about
U.S. presence in the Indian Ocean, Singh said.

Singh took up the post of commander-in-chief of the integrated
army, air force and navy command in Andaman and Nicobar just
after the Dec. 26 tsunami that killed 3,513 people and displaced
nearly 40,000 on the islands about 1,200 kms from the Indian
mainland.

He said the military no longer had concerns about letting
foreign airlines land at Port Blair airport, which takes only
flights from Chennai (Madras) and Kolkata (Calcutta).

"There is no security problem, absolutely none. Let
international flights land," Singh said.

Port Blair's problem is the lack of connections with other
tourist spots in the region, such as Thailand's Phuket island, a
two-hour flight to the north.

"I can see in a year or two, from Singapore you can fly to
Phuket and then on to Port Blair."