Chinese Ring Of Steel Around India

Chinese ring of steel around India

NORTH OF INDIA : In Occupied Tibet China has constructed 13 air bases Lays Gormo-Laksha oil pipeline to ease its problem of supplying fuel to its forces in Tibet Constructs rail link to Lasha which will address its supply problems to its forces in Tibet.

IN THE NORTH AND CLOSE TO KASHMIR The People's Liberation Army is setting up at least two offensively configured, armour-heavy mechanised corps modelled after the Soviet Operational Manoeuvre Groups of the 1980s. Using Xinjiang as their springboard, they will 'become China's new strategic weapon'

CHINA IN INDIA’S NORTHWEST : PAKISTAN China supplies 70 percent of military aircraft and Main Battle Tanks (MBT) to Pakistan. Almost every missile project in Pakistan has been initiated through active Chinese or North Korean assistance China has supplied Pakistan with over 1,600 main battle tanks, 400 combat aircraft and about 40 naval vessels

CHINA IN INDIA’S WEST Gwadar port in Pakistan, being developed by China is one of the world's largest deep-sea ports that will double Pakistan's sea-trading capacity.It already houses a Chinese electronic listening post . Gwadar, will not only arm Pakistan with critical strategic depth against a 1971-style Indian attempt to bottle up its navy, but it will also open the way to the arrival of Chinese submarines in India's proximity, completing India's strategic encirclement by Beijing.

GWADAR DEEP WATER PORT

CHINA LINKS INDIA’S NORTH AND WEST Karakoram highway : Beijing is reinforcing the strategic significance of Gwadar by linking it up with the Chinese built Karakoram Highway (through POK) to western China using the Chinese-aided Gwadar-Dalbandin railway extending up to Rawalpindi

K A R A K O R A M H I G H W A Y

IN THE SOUTH Hambantota : China is attempting to build a container port in Sri Lanka at Hambantota Project 094 : By 2010, China intends to put into service four to six nuclearpowered ballistic-missile submarines that it is building as part of the socalled 'Project 094‘.These are obviously meant to patrol the Indian ocean.

Proposed Port in Sri Lanka

Proposed Chinese Military Port at Hambantaka

China’s top naval priority -Submarine acquisition

China’s Kilo class submarine Acquired from Russia

Type 92 XIA class

Submarines are ideal for blockading a country with large coastlines

Indian ocean: China’s Ocean ? China is rapidly modernizing its blue water navy to achieve its aim of ‘power projection’. It has a large submarine force of some 71 submarines, though it lacks enough aircraft carriers China is embarking on a $10 billion submarine acquisition and upgrade program and is buying destroyers and frigates and equipping them with modern antiship cruise missiles

Chinese Naval Power : DESTINATION – THE INDIAN OCEAN Made in China.

Luhai Class destroyer

Luda class

Bought from Russia

Sovremenny class destroyer

Chinese naval gun similar to US Gatling cannon

Bangladesh : China’s Pakistan in our east Bangladesh’s Armed Forces today are predominantly equipped with Chinese military hardware. The Bangladesh Army’s tanks and light tanks are of Chinese origin. The Bangladesh Navy’s frigates and patrol crafts are mostly Chinese. The Bangladesh Air Force's combat aircraft are all Chinese. In short China has forged Bangladesh into a military-equipment client state like Pakistan.

Bangladesh : Another Chinese link Bangladesh-China Defence Cooperation Agreement: Signed between Bangladesh and China during the visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister,the staunchly anti-Indian Begum Khaleda Zia ‘s visit to China from December 23 to 27, 2002.

Implications of Bangladesh China agreement Bangladesh has plans to expand, upgrade and modernize her armed forces. China is willing to under-write Bangladesh’s military plans above. The emphasis on “to enhance cooperation in training, maintenance and some areas in defense production” should normally imply ‘induction of more modern military hardware, as these activities would not be applicable to older generation of military hardware. Deliberate secrecy and ambiguity has been maintained in terms of the scope of the agreement. This gives leeway for widening the strategic cooperation in the future.

Burma : China’s closest ally in our East China has developed close ties to the military regime in Rangoon and turned a nation wary of China into a "satellite" of Beijing close to the Strait of Malacca. China is building naval bases in Burma and has electronic intelligence gathering facilities on islands in the Bay of Bengal and near the Strait of Malacca. Beijing also supplied Burma with "billions of dollars in military assistance to support a de facto military alliance," They have opened up the old Burma-China road as well as the Irrawady river for traffic. These will facilitate rapid troop movement as and when required.

IRRAWADDY CORRIDOOR

IN THE EAST : COCO ISLANDS The electronic intelligence station on Great Coco Island in the Bay of Bengal, some 300 kms south of the Burmese mainland, is the most important Chinese electronic intelligence installation in Myanmar [Burma]. The Coco Islands are an ideal location for monitoring Indian naval and missile launch facilities in Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the south and movements of the Indian Navy and other navies throughout the eastern Indian Ocean.

Maoist Nepal : Chinese Proxy A Maoist Nepal under Chinese influence could bring Chinese military presence on Bihar’s and Uttar Pradesh’s borders with Nepal. This would entail sizeable Indian military deployments on the Indo-Nepal border.