WOOING THE WAVES

India is developing strategic ports overseas and is exploring new oceanic trade routes to pursue its growing geopolitical objectives

- SANJIB Kr BARUAH

The Chabahar port on Iran’s Makran coast is approximately 7,600 nautical miles (around 14,000km) from Vladivostok, Russia’s largest port on the Pacific seaboard. Myanmar’s Sittwe port lies somewhere between the two. For India, these three are vital pivots on which hinges the attempt to extend its maritime and trade links, keeping in mind the country’s growing geopolitical and strategic objectives.

India launched the Sittwe port plan in 2009 and started seriously pursuing Chabahar from 2014, while baby steps for the sea route from Vladivostok to eastern India were taken in 2017. With up to six Chinese warships deployed in the Indian Ocean at any given time, not to speak of the PLA submarines, Beijing is on an overdrive to expand its military presence. The Chinese efforts to help modernise the Pakistani navy is another point of concern.

India has invested considerable time, effort and money to extend its strategic influence in these carefully selected locations and their hin- terlands. But the efforts have faced some setbacks.

Iran is locked in a confrontation with Israel, and it is facing a major crisis with the deaths of president Ebrahim Raisi and foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a helicopter crash last month. Russia is embroiled in a war with Ukraine, while Myanmar is in the throes of a deadly civil war between the junta and pro-democracy and ethnic groups.