Indian Ocean Becoming Power Play Hotspot
International power rivalry is playing out in the Indian Ocean region, India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Wednesday, adding that a strong naval presence in the key trade route was his country's biggest priority.
While Singh did not name any country, analysts say that China, which commands the world's largest naval force with more than 370 ships, has been a security concern for India since ties nosedived in 2020 after 24 troops died in clashes along their Himalayan frontier.
The UK and the U.S. also have a joint military base in the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia.
Chinese and Indian troops have pulled back from two face-off points after a deal was struck in October following a series of talks, but India's army chief told reporters this week that "a degree of standoff" still persists.
"A large part of the world's trade and commerce passes through the Indian Ocean region. Due to geo-strategic reasons, the region is also becoming a part of international power rivalry," Defence Minister Singh said during the induction of one submarine and two navy ships in the city of Mumbai.
He said 95% of India's trade, in terms of volume, is linked to the Indian Ocean region. "In such a situation, the presence of a strong Indian Navy becomes our biggest priority," he said.
India has sought to counter China as Beijing grows its influence in India's neighbourhood through investments and development projects in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
New Delhi plans to build a 175-ship strong naval force by 2035 with an increasing emphasis on using domestically made components, but analysts say the pace of construction is slow as compared to China, which builds almost 14 warships a year, while India constructs just four.
Britain gives Trump team chance to review Chagos Islands deal
Britain will give U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's new government the chance to review a deal with Mauritius over the future of a U.S.-British military base in the Indian Ocean, a spokesman for Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Wednesday.
Britain struck a deal in October to hand control of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, while retaining control under a 99-year lease of the military base on Diego Garcia, the largest island of the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean.
The British government had been working to ratify its agreement with Mauritius before Trump is sworn in next week.
But Starmer's spokesman told reporters: "It is perfectly reasonable for the new U.S. administration to consider the detail."
Marco Rubio, Trump's pick as secretary of state, has said the deal poses a threat to U.S. security by ceding the archipelago - with its base used by U.S. long-range bombers and warships - to a country allied with China.
Mike Waltz, Trump's incoming national security adviser, has also raised concerns about the British government's negotiations with Mauritius. In 2022, he said they could jeopardise the Diego Garcia military base.
Trump has not publicly commented on the deal.
British foreign minister David Lammy said in November he was confident the deal would go through, adding that the U.S. intelligence agencies, State Department, Pentagon and White House had all welcomed it.
Britain had to hold further negotiations with the new Mauritius Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam, who was elected in November, over the status of the Chagos Islands after he publicly criticised the deal agreed by his predecessor.
Iran's navy unveils its first signals intelligence ship
In further regional news, Iran's navy received its first signals intelligence ship on Wednesday, semi-official Tasnim news organization reported, a few days after the country's army took delivery of 1,000 new drones.
The Zagros is a new category of military vessel equipped with electronic sensors and the ability to intercept cyber-operations and conduct intelligence monitoring, Tasnim said.
"The Zagros signals intelligence ship will be the watchful eye of Iran's navy in the seas and oceans," Navy Commander Shahram Irani said.
Earlier this month, Iran started two-month-long military exercises which have already included war games in which the elite Revolutionary Guards defended key nuclear installations in Natanz against mock attacks by missiles and drones.
The military drills and procurement come at a time of high tensions with arch-enemy Israel and the United States under incoming U.S. president Donald Trump.
In October, the spokesperson of Iran's government said the country plans to raise its military budget by around 200% to face growing threats.
(Reuters - Reporting by Shivam Patel; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan) (Additional reporting by Elizabeth Piper and Andrew MacAskill; editing by Barbara Lewis) (Further reporting by Dubai Newsroom; Editing by Michael Perry)