'Double Fish Hook' Strategy

Last updated

'Double fish hook' strategy is a speculated maritime strategy which India adopts to counter the String of Pearls strategy by China. [1] This 'fish hook' strategy of India is expected to complement the 'fish hook' strategy undertaken by the US along with its allies in the Pacific Ocean.

The 'double fish hook' involves a string of port developments and alliances that India has entered into. The eastern 'fish hook' covers the eastern Indian Ocean and begins in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and ends at the US military base (Diego Garcia) in the Chagos Archipelago. [1] The Andaman and Nicobar Islands constitute the endpoint of the US 'fish hook' strategy. [2] The western 'fish hook' begins at the Duqm port through India's Maritime Transport Agreement with Oman and traverses Mauritius, Seychelles, and Madagascar. [1] India also develops maritime linkages with France, which has security interests for its territories in the Indian Ocean region. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andaman Islands</span> Archipelago in the Bay of Bengal

The Andaman Islands are an archipelago in the northeastern Indian Ocean about 130 km (81 mi) southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a maritime boundary between the Bay of Bengal to the west and the Andaman Sea to the east. Most of the islands are part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a Union Territory of India, while the Coco Islands and Preparis Island are part of the Yangon Region of Myanmar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bay of Bengal</span> Northeastern part of the Indian Ocean

The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line between Sangaman Kanda, Sri Lanka, and the north westernmost point of Sumatra, Indonesia. It is the largest water region called a bay in the world. There are countries dependent on the Bay of Bengal in South Asia and Southeast Asia. During the existence of British India, it was named as the Bay of Bengal after the historic Bengal region. At the time, the Port of Kolkata served as the gateway to the Crown rule in India. Cox's Bazar, the longest sea beach in the world and Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest and the natural habitat of the Bengal tiger, are located along the bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andaman and Nicobar Islands</span> Union territory of India

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India consisting of 572 islands, of which 37 are inhabited, at the junction of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The territory is about 150 km (93 mi) north of Aceh in Indonesia and separated from Thailand and Myanmar by the Andaman Sea. It comprises two island groups, the Andaman Islands (partly) and the Nicobar Islands, separated by the 150 km wide Ten Degree Channel, with the Andaman islands to the north of this latitude, and the Nicobar islands to the south. The Andaman Sea lies to the east and the Bay of Bengal to the west. The island chains are thought to be a submerged extension of the Arakan Mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andaman Sea</span> Marginal sea of the northeastern Indian Ocean

The Andaman Sea is a marginal sea of the northeastern Indian Ocean bounded by the coastlines of Myanmar and Thailand along the Gulf of Martaban and west side of the Malay Peninsula, and separated from the Bay of Bengal to its west by the Andaman Islands and the Nicobar Islands. Its southern end is at Breueh Island just north of Sumatra, with the Strait of Malacca further southeast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Car Nicobar</span> One of the Nicobar Islands

Car Nicobar is the northernmost of the Nicobar Islands. It is also one of three local administrative divisions of the Indian district of Nicobar, part of the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Annual rainfall is 2800 millimetres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Blair</span> Capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India

Port Blair is the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India in the Bay of Bengal. It is also the local administrative sub-division (tehsil) of the islands, the headquarters for the district of South Andaman and is the territory's only notified town.

Great Nicobar is the southernmost and largest of the Nicobar Islands of India, north of Sumatra.

Nicobar district is one of three districts in the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The district's administrative territory encompasses all of the Nicobar Islands, which are located in the Indian Ocean, between the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The headquarters of the district is the village of Malacca, located on the island of Car Nicobar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Narcondam Island</span>

Narcondam, India's easternmost island, is a small volcanic island located in the northern Andaman Sea. The island's peak rises to 710 m above mean sea level, and it is formed of andesite. It is part of the Andaman Islands, the main body of which lie approximately 74 km (46 mi) to the west.The island is part of the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The island is small, covering an area of approximately 6.8 square kilometres. It was classified as a dormant volcano by the Geological Survey of India.

The Coco Islands are a small group of islands in the northeastern Bay of Bengal. They are part of the Yangon Region of Myanmar. The islands are located 414 km (257 mi) south of the city of Yangon. Coco Island group consists of 5 islands, 4 islands on Great Coco Reef and another raicoco island on the Little Coco Reef. To the north of this island group lies Preparis Island also belonging to Myanmar, and to the south lies the Landfall Island belonging to India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andaman and Nicobar Command</span> Tri-services command of the Indian Armed Forces

The Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) is the first and only tri-service theater command of the Indian Armed Forces, based at Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a Union Territory of India. It was created in 2001 to safeguard India's strategic interests in Southeast Asia and the Strait of Malacca by increasing rapid deployment of military assets in the region. It provides logistical and administrative support to naval ships which are sent on deployment to East Asia and the Pacific Ocean.

The String of Pearls is a geopolitical hypothesis proposed by United States political researchers in 2004. The term refers to the network of Chinese military and commercial facilities and relationships along its sea lines of communication, which extend from the Chinese mainland to Port Sudan in the Horn of Africa. The sea lines run through several major maritime choke points such as the Strait of Mandeb, the Strait of Malacca, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Lombok Strait as well as other strategic maritime centres in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Maldives, and Somalia.

INS Utkrosh, is an Indian naval air station under the joint-services Andaman and Nicobar Command of the Indian Armed Forces. It is located near naval base INS Jarawa, on Port Blair in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

INS <i>Shakti</i> (A57) Deepak-class fleet tanker

INS Shakti (A57) is a Deepak-class fleet tanker in service with the Indian Navy. She was built by Fincantieri, an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste. She is the second and final ship of her class. Shakti, along with her predecessor Deepak, is one of the largest ships of the Indian Navy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">INS Baaz</span> Airport in Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India

INS Baaz is an Indian naval air station under the joint-services Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) of the Indian Armed Forces. It is located near Campbell Bay, on Great Nicobar island in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. It is the southernmost air station of the Indian Armed Forces. It overlooks the Strait of Malacca as well as the Six Degree channel between Great Nicobar and the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

Rondo Island is Indonesia's northernmost territory, located in the Andaman Sea, with a 0.650 km2 area 35m above sea level. The island is one of the outlying islands of Indonesia in the Aceh province of the Sumatra region. It is administratively part of Ujung Bau village in the Sukakarya District of Sabang City, whose administration center is on Weh Island, south of Rondo. Rondo is 50 km offshore from Indonesia's Sumatra mainland. This otherwise uninhabited island, accessible only by boat, has an Indonesian military outpost with a heliport and blue-roofed barracks, an adjacent lighthouse complex with a red-roofed lighthouse keeper's house and a white skeletal lighthouse topped with a viewing gallery and lantern.

Tourism in Andaman and Nicobar Islands relates to tourism in union territory of India, Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Andamans are an archipelago of over 570 tropical islands, of which only 36 are inhabited. In 2004 Radhanagar beach at Havelock Island was bestowed with the title of "Asia’s Best Beach" and as the world's seventh most spectacular beach by Time Magazine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Countries of the Bay of Bengal</span>

The countries of the Bay of Bengal include littoral and landlocked countries that depend on the bay for maritime usage. Historically, the Bay of Bengal has been a highway of transport, trade and cultural exchange between diverse peoples encompassing South Asia and Southeast Asia. Today, the Bay of Bengal region is the convergence of two major geopolitical blocs- the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multisectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) promotes regional engagement in the area.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is an archipelago of 572 islands of which 37 are inhabited. It is a union territory of India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exclusive economic zone of India</span> Economic zone exclusive to India

India has the 18th-largest exclusive economic zone (EEZ) with a total size of 2,305,143 km2 (890,021 sq mi). It includes the Lakshadweep island group in the Laccadive Sea off the southwestern coast of India and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands at the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. India's EEZ is bordered to the west by Pakistan, to the south by the Maldives and Sri Lanka and to the east by Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Based on new scientific data, India has petitioned United Nations to extend its EEZ from 200 Nautical miles to 350 miles.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Jha, Prof Pankaj (2020-08-08). "Countering Chinese String of Pearls, India's 'double Fish Hook' Strategy". Modern Diplomacy. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  2. "Has India activated its 'Fish Hook' strategy in the Indian Ocean?". www.cescube.com. Retrieved 2020-12-30.