India is seeking to speed up ambitious plans to convert the strategically
situated Andaman and Nicobar Islands into a shipping and tourism hub with connections to South-East Asia,in the growing presence of China in the Indian Ocean.
Indian and Indonesian officials in a recent meeting agreed to “encourage sail tourism, cruise ship visits, and interaction between tour operators” between the two countries, against a backdrop of efforts to increase connectivity between the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Aceh, where India is helping to develop the deep sea port of Sabang.
Officials from both countries also agreed to help create opportunities for investors. Strengthening links between Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Aceh, 150km apart, is part of the Shared Vision for Maritime Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific signed in 2018 between the two countries.
“The broader context (of this cooperation) is closer political and economic ties. The idea is that there should be deeper and closer cooperation, and for that, infrastructure should be in place,” said Mr Rajiv Bhatia, Retired Indian Ambassador and Distinguished Fellow at Gateway House, a think-tank.
“India’s approach in the past (towards the Andaman and Nicobar Islands) used to be so restrictive, to not do any development of the area and not allow foreign power. Now there is an evolution in thinking.”The Andaman and Nicobar Islands have a population of around 400,000 people, including aboriginal tribes. This includes the Jarawas, who have inhabited the island for years and live off the land. Environmentalists argue the proposed development would destroy ecologically and culturally sensitive areas of
these islands.
The government’s ambitious infrastructure plan includes a leisure zone, a film city, a residential district and a tourism-specific economic zone, underwater resorts and beach hotels in Little Andaman, an island of about 707 sq km.
But the biggest infrastructure push is coming in the largest of the Nicobar Islands, the 921-sq-km Great Nicobar, sparsely populated but rich in biodiversity. New Delhi is going ahead with plans to build a deep-berth port with a container transshipment terminal, an airport, power plant and township at an estimated cost of 720 billion rupees (S$11.7 billion).
According to a Home Ministry letter in March 2022, the airport will be a joint military-civil, dual-use airport under the operational control of the Indian Navy.
New Delhi’s plan is to create a transshipment port that will help India capture some of the large container traffic passing from East and South-east Asia, according to a prefeasibility report by NITI Ayog, a government public policy think-tank.
It notes that the main east-west shipping route that links East Asian exports with the Indian Ocean, Suez Canal and Europe runs just to the south of Great Nicobar Island, the southernmost land mass in India.
But developing the islands and links to South-east Asia is not expected to be easy amid wide-ranging challenges, including the long lead time of the development of three decades and environmental concerns.
Source: Indian Shipping News
