For decades we have wondered why we don’t have a Hong Kong or Dubai of our own. Why are we not able to develop a coastal economy on the lines of Singapore? Well, it was mostly a lack of planning. We actually have the Great Nicobar Island situated in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands that could serve as a military vantage point and also an economic hub. For decades, the government simply could not leverage this advantage. But now things are changing with the Modi government.
Read more: How PM Modi is unlocking the strategic potential of Andaman and Nicobar
Modi government’s plans for the Great Nicobar Island
Before we get into why the Great Nicobar Island is going to be a huge maritime asset for India, let’s find out what the Modi government is actually planning for this island.
The NITI Aayog recently came up with a plan for the “Holistic Development” of the Great Nicobar Island, situated at the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The plan includes building a ₹ 72,000 crore International Container Transshipment Terminal, airport, thermal power plant, and township housing 6.5 lakh people.
The idea is to transform Great Nicobar Island from an isolated area with around 8,000 inhabitants into a bustling economic hub that allows India to tap into major shipping lanes and trade routes.
Great Nicobar Island- the military base that can help India deter Chinese expansionism
The answer to Chinese PLA’s expansionism attempts in the Himalayas goes via the Strait of Malacca in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). And this is exactly where the Great Nicobar Island assumes strategic significance.
The Great Nicobar Island is located barely 90 km from the tip of Indonesia’s Sumatra Island and is close to the Western entrance of the Strait of Malacca. Chinese vessels transporting oil from the Gulf or exporting merchandise to the West have to transit the Strait of Malacca. China simply cannot afford an obstruction in this part of the world if it has to ensure a continued supply of fossil fuels and strengthen its export industry.
Read more: How India is shredding the Paper Dragon at every turn
Placing military assets, docking warships and installing missiles at the Great Nicobar Island will therefore allow India to create a deterrent effect. It can pass a message to China- if you cross the red line in Ladakh or Arunachal Pradesh, we will block your economic lifeline in the Strait of Malacca.
Given the logistics sharing pact India has signed with countries like Vietnam and Australia, China will also have to worry about the prospect of Quad coordinating right at the gateway of the Strait of Malacca.
India’s plan to build a bustling free trade zone
Singapore, Dubai and recently even Hong Kong showed how conveniently located islands or coastal cities can be developed into hubs of tourism, trade and finance.
This is exactly what the Great Nicobar Island too offers India. Let’s start with PM Modi’s announcement in the year 2020 to dedicate ₹ 10,000 crores towards developing a trans-shipment port for Great Nicobar Island.
Trans-shipment ports are an integral part of the modern maritime economy. These ports serve as an intermediate destination where cargo is moved from one vessel to another before being shipped off to the final destination.
This may sound like a routine task. Yet, trans-shipment is becoming crucial because of the need to change vessels mid-way, sometimes for consolidating small shipments into large shipments and at other times for dividing a large shipment into smaller ones. The port earns its income by performing the task of loading and unloading, as well as by charging the ships that avail of the port’s facilities.
Some of the world’s biggest ports earn billions through trans-shipment operations. Dubai’s Jebel Ali Port emerged as a trans-shipment hub and today it brings in billions of Dollars to the Emirate of Dubai. The Port of Shanghai and the Port of Singapore too have emerged as major trans-shipment hubs.
A trans-shipment hub at Great Nicobar could create a huge economy in itself. The island alone is larger in size than Singapore and Dubai combined with a coastline of over 900 kilometres. And it is situated at the junction of world’s oil and merchandise trade. More than 40 percent of the entire world’s trade passes through this region.
Moreover, India is already looking at other facilities like an airport, a township, a thermal power plant, a rail line and an optical fiber cable project to provide top-notch internet connectivity in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. So, the Modi government wants to bring in all possible infrastructure and develop the Great Nicobar Island into a busy trans-shipment hub.
Once, India creates a busy trans-shipment hub in the Great Nicobar Island and also creates robust infrastructure, banks, non-banking financial institutions and builders will arrive themselves. The next thing we know, tall skyscrapers would come up on the island attracting tourists from different parts of the world. Further, the Biosphere Reserve and the National Parks located on the island can be developed into tourism hubs as well. Add to it, the huge coastline that can be used to build the kind of resorts that have come up in the Maldives and the Caribbean.
India is investing big in the Great Nicobar and that actually comes as a piece of welcome news.
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