New naval command at Andamans soon

NEW DELHI, JAN 10: A new Far Eastern naval command will be established in the 8220;next few weeks8221; at Andaman and Nicobar islands to counter any threats to India8217;s security from the eastern side, Defence Minister George Fernandes said.

8220;It should come up in the next few weeks and will be known as the Far Eastern Naval Command,8221; Fernandes told PTI in an interview. The 8220;full-fledged8221; new command will be in addition to the eastern and western 8220;operational8221; naval commands at Visakhapatnam and Mumbai respectively, besides the southern training command at Cochin. Terming Andamans, India8217;s farthest frontier, as the 8220;most insecure8221; region, Fernandes said about 300 uninhabited islands in that region were highly vulnerable and could be used as bases for dumping arms and equipment.

The 750-km long Andaman and Nicobar Archipelago is located about 1200 km from the mainland, but is merely 90 km from Indonesia and 50 km from Myanmar. The new command would counter any threat from China which has reportedly set upsurveillance posts in Myanmar8217;s Coco islands, 40 kms off the northern tip of the Andamans.

The command would help facilitate search and rescue and anti-piracy operations. It would also regulate traffic and check pollution in the sea lanes which have heavy tanker movement. Fernandes said the command would have its headquarters either in the Andaman islands or at a place along India8217;s east coast. The current defence establishment at Port Blair is a tri-service unified command headed by a vice-admiral.