India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

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VinodTK
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India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by VinodTK »

Starting this thread dedicated to Indian island territories, because of their historic, strategic and economic importance to India. If you look at their geographic locations, they are like 2 tollbooths controlling a key and heavily used sea routs. Historically various Indian dynasties (Cholas, Marathas) controlled these islands, Indian National Army was raised on Andaman & Nicobar Islands by Subash Chandra Bose. At various period of time foreign powers like the Dutch, English and Japanese occupied and ruled these islands.

On the strategic side the first joint military command was established in A&N. If the quad takes root and becomes a reality, then Andaman and Nicobar along with Lakshadweep islands will play an important role for the quad. These islands would serve as repair and rest ports of call for US, Japan, Australian navies and be the home base of Indian Navies Ocean Command (if it ever gets created). With the PLAN and fishing fleets lurking around these islands their importance grows significantly.

With India’s look east policy the economic importance of these islands will increases significantly. Being close to Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand, and Singapore, the islands could be developed as key gateway to these countries. If GOI has the desire plus will power the islands can be developed as the Hongkong of Indian ocean. For the mainland Indians the islands can be converted into tourist destinations, infect I would go to the extent of saying these islands would become India’s Hawaii or French Polynesia.
Provided some Youtube links about the islands.

Historical Timeline of Andaman and Nicobar Islands
http://exploreandaman.com/historical-ti ... slands.php
Some Pictures from the above link

Image
Present Day Viper Island Jail

1872 8th February: Sher Ali (Sher Ali Afridi) killed Mayo (then Viceroy of India) at Hopetown jetty
Source: Wikipedia Commons

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1906 Construction of the Cellular Jail completed
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Present Day cellular Jail

1942 3rd March: Japanese occupation of the Islands
Image
Source: Wikipedia Commons

1945 7th October: The allied forces reoccupied the Islands. Japanese Vice Admiral Teizo Hara and Major-General Tamenori Sato surrendered the Andaman Nicobar Islands to Brigadier J A Salomons, commander of 116th Indian Infantry Brigade, and Chief Administrator Mr Noel K Patterson in a ceremony at Gymkhana Ground, Port Blair.
Image
Source: Wikipedia Commons

1956 Andaman and Nicobar Islands declared as Union territory


Everything about Andaman & Nicobar Islands




RsTv: Talking History – Season 2: Exploring Andaman Islands – 1


RsTv: Talking History – Season 2: Exploring Andaman Islands - 2



Japanese Occupation in Andaman and Nicobar Islands (1942-1945)


Lakshadweep


How Lakshadweep Became a Part of India | हिन्दी | Explained By Nandan Roy





Here’s Why Andaman & Nicobar Islands Hold Key To India’s Maritime Security & Trade |Defence Dispatch
Last edited by ramana on 09 Apr 2021 07:16, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Spelling Ramana
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Re: India’s Ocean Tertiaries (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by ramana »

Good initiative.
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

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Times Of India: In unusual move, US navy conducts operation near Lakshadweep without India's consent
NEW DELHI:TNN | Apr 9, 2021, 12.30 PM IST: In an unusual move, the US Navy has declared it conducted “freedom of navigation patrols” in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) near Lakshadweep this week, without deliberately seeking New Delhi’s prior consent.
The US Navy regularly conducts such patrols in the contentious South China Sea to challenge China’s aggressive territorial claims over its neighbours. But a provocative declaration of similar patrols in India’s EEZ, at a time the US is seeking India’s cooperation in strengthening “alliances and partnerships” to foster “credible deterrence” against China in the Indo-Pacific, has raised eyebrows here. There has been no official reaction from India till now.

The US Navy’s 7th Fleet said in an official statement that its Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones “asserted navigational rights and freedoms” around 130 nautical miles west of the Lakshadweep Islands, “without requesting India’s prior consent” on April 7. This, it added, was “consistent with international law”.

“India requires prior consent for military exercises or maneuvers in its EEZ or continental shelf, a claim inconsistent with international law. This freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) upheld the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea recognized in international law by challenging India’s excessive maritime claims,” said the US Navy’s statement.

“US forces operate in the Indo-Pacific region on a daily basis. All operations are designed in accordance with international law and demonstrate that the US will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows,” it said.

“We conduct routine and regular FONOPs, as we have done in the past and will continue to in the future. FONOPs are not about one country, nor are they about making political statements,” it added.


An Indian officer, in turn, said: “EEZs are certainly international waters where shipping cannot be impeded. The US Navy does undertake patrols in EEZs of different countries but to make such a provocative statement about India is highly unusual. While India ratified the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in 1995, the US has not done it till now.”

Indian warships in the past have chased away a few Chinese research vessels entering the Indian EEZ and engaging in “suspicious military activity” after suitable warnings. “Indian domestic laws hold that any country carrying out military activity in its EEZ must provide prior notification,” added the officer.


While a country has full sovereignty over territorial waters, which end at 12 nautical miles from the coast, it only has special rights in exploration of marine resources in its EEZ, which stretch to 200 nautical miles from the baseline.
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

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From: THIS WEEK IN ASIA

Is India planning to spy on Chinese submarines from the Andamans, with a little help from Japan?

India’s move, with a little help from Japan, to develop a strategically located island chain near the mouth of Southeast Asia’s main shipping lane is part of a broader plan by New Delhi to keep a closer watch on China’s naval assets, say analysts and former Indian officials – especially its submarines.

The Andaman and Nicobar archipelago of 524 islands, only 38 of which are inhabited, stretches across some 1,000km (620 miles) of Indian Ocean by the western entrance to the Malacca Strait, through which an estimated 80 per cent or more of China’s seaborne trade passes.

“It is like a [permanent] aircraft carrier,” Kanwal Sibal, a former foreign secretary of India, told This Week In Asia, “that gives India very extensive control over maritime space and sea lanes of communication to monitor shipping and naval vessels.”

Container and cargo ships are seen passing through the Malacca Strait, the main shipping channel between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, in 2019. Photo: Roy Issa
Long considered an underutilised security asset, the islands have come into sharper focus amid rising India-China tensions following last year’s deadly flare-up at the two countries’ disputed border, and the fact that “China is [becoming] increasingly active in the Indian Ocean as part of its Maritime Silk Road strategy,” Sibal said, in reference to the sea route section of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative plan to grow global trade.

As part of that plan, China has acquired numerous footholds around the Indian Ocean in recent years, Sibal noted, with Chinese companies taking control of commercial ports in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, and the country acquiring its first overseas military base in Djibouti in 2016. Rumours that Beijing will establish a second offshore naval base at Gwadar, the Pakistani port operated by China’s Cosco Shipping Holdings Co, have circulated for years, and Sibal said Chinese submarines now enter the Indian Ocean on a regular basis.
India receives US Defence Secretary, with China on its mind
19 Mar 2021

Against this backdrop, India has in recent months expedited plans to base additional military forces on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, including facilities for additional warships, aircraft, missile batteries and soldiers, according to Abhijit Singh, a senior fellow and head of the Maritime Policy Initiative at the Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation think tank.

The retired naval officer said runways at Indian naval air stations in the far north and south of the island chain had been extended to accommodate larger aircraft, while a 10-year infrastructure development plan for the islands has also been fast-tracked.

Last month, Japan extended development assistance to the islands for the first time in the form of a US$36 million government grant to upgrade the power grid on South Andaman Island, where capital city Port Blair and most of the archipelago’s population are located. The grant, which Deepa Wadhwa, a retired Indian ambassador to Japan, says “reflect the two countries convergence on security issues and commitment for a free and open Indo-Pacific”, will be used to buy batteries to aid solar power generation on the island – and hints at a greater opening of the area to friendly nations, according to security experts.

Sujan R. Chinoy, a retired diplomat and the current director general of the Manohar Parrikar Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis in Delhi, has argued in favour of such a move, saying India should collaborate with the US, Japan and Australia – fellow members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or “Quad” – to implement an effective system of underwater surveillance around the islands, where India’s only tripartite military command, comprising the army, navy and the air force, is located.

“Surveillance of Chinese naval [assets], especially submarines, in the Indo-Pacific should be on the Quad’s – and therefore the Indo-Japan – agenda,” said Sibal, the former top diplomat, who added that “a division of responsibility in the Indo-Pacific should be an objective” for the Quad – with India, Australia and Japan each taking an area of responsibility, while the US fills in the gaps with its massive maritime capabilities.

India does not allow foreign navies to use its facilities in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands at present, partly out of concern that it could spook other nations in the region, according to Abhijit Singh of the Observer Research Foundation. “There is also apprehension that operating sensitive equipment with foreign partners might involve the sharing of critical undersea data and a level of informational access to foreign collaborators that the Indian Navy may not be comfortable with,” he said.

Strategic analysis website Resonant News reported in July that the US and Japan had helped deploy an underwater surveillance network in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to monitor Chinese submarines – though there was no official confirmation of the supposed development.

Since 2015, Japan has taken part in regular naval exercises with India and the US – which Australia also joined last year – and in September, Delhi and Tokyo signed an agreement that allows their respective militaries to access each other’s bases for logistics support. The pact came after years of negotiations and could reportedly include facilities in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Japan’s NEC Corporation, through its Indian subsidiary, also helped lay a 2,300km undersea optical cable connecting the archipelago with mainland India, a project that was completed last year after being launched by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018.

Other infrastructure projects earmarked for the archipelago include plans to transform the sparsely populated Little Andaman Island into a financial-tourist hub to rival Singapore or Hong Kong – despite environmentalists’ fears it could destroy the island’s fragile ecology. :D
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

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From: The Economic Times News
Indian naval ship reaches Port Blair with oxygen cylinders
Indian naval ship IN LCU 55 reached Port Blair from Visakhapatnam with oxygen cylinders and multi-feed oxygen manifolds to cater to exigencies, Navy officials said on Tuesday.

This operation was conducted as part of Mission Oxygen Express, they said.

They said Indian naval ship Sharda has completed first phase of transfer of COVID-19 supplies including oxygen cylinders from Kochi to four islands in Lakshadweep.

The next consignment of COVID-19 supplies to Lakshadweep is scheduled for departure on Tuesday, they noted.
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by VinodTK »


In 5 years, India has transformed Agalela from a ghost island into a strategic military base. From tracking Chinese ships to coordinating with allies, Agalela could be a gamechanger in the Indian Ocean.
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

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In Hindi
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by Philip »

Some quick facts and thoughts.

The PRC is attempting to outflank and encircle India via the BRI,Central Asian road/rail link to Europe through CA states and Iran.$500 B deal with Iran to sweeten the same.,including a new port facility for logistic access to its naval assets.Our long-delayed Chahbahar port ,improving now still pales into insignificance at the PRC largesse.
In the IOR,agreements for logistic/ base/ permanent naval facilities at Djibouti,Gwadar,H'tota and Port City Colombo,plus Burma ,will allow permanent patrolling in the IOR by the PLAN of warships and subs.

Our counter in the IOR littorals has been Agalega ( Isle Maurice), Duqm ( Oman), facilities in the Seychelles was shot down, and a planned port in Indonesia opp. Car Nic.at Sabang.
However,we are blessed with two fine island chains on either seaboard, LDweep and the ANC which could act as forward bases,fortresses in fact,extending the offensive and defensive line of the mainland a considerable distance keeping in mind the increasing range of naval strike missiles.

LD: A series of atolls/ small islands,two groups Amindivi and Laccadives. However,a very small area footprint in comparison to the ANC.Very strategically positioned at the heart of the Arabian Sea. Can monitor all SLOCs from the Gulf,Red Sea and E.African coastline transiting to the Bay of Bengal,Malacca Straits and Indonesia/ Oz.Due to their small size,limited mil. facilities can be established only on some of these islands.It may be possible to interlink some and through land reclamation increase the footprint as the PRC has done in the Indo-China Sea with full-length airstrips and missile batteries, wharves,etc. for PLAN aircraft, warships and subs. By interlinking them we can create larger anchorages and establish required infra for the same.

In the Orkney islands, the " Churchill Barrier" was set up between the Mainland ,its largest island and S.Ronaldsay after Gunther Prien penetrated Scap Flow and sank the battleship Royal Oak.Some years ago on a visit to Scapa Flow, I drove over the barrier myself imagining Prien's daring attack for which he received the Knight's Cross,Oak and Leaves to his Iron Cross,Germany's highest wartime decoration.

Look at the US and what it has set up and based at DG. With LD,we can establish a proper all aspect base/ series of monitoring facilities using the entire series of islands and their waters. Seaplanes/ amphibs would be most useful if based here esp. Be-200s types which can carry ASW systems too.
The ANC is much larger in area,size and features,requires another analysis.
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by VinodTK »

Finally Things are beginning to move in Andaman Islands (Andaman MEGA PROJECTS Approved)


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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

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India’s Eastern Sentinel: Why Andaman Nicobar Command Is Crucial
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

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Why ANDAMAN & NICOBAR Islands are VERY IMPORTANT and ALL MEGAPROJECTS - अंडमान और निकोबार का महत्व
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by Philip »

It will be an unmitigated eco. disaster! An abso insane idea dreamt up by crony- capitalists in league with vested interests.
Why can't the GIFT autonomous SEZ " gifted" to Gujarat be adopted on a few more coastal locations on the mainland where the huge hinterland of India of vast manufacturing,etc. can support the entity? The ANC is akin to the Maldives where EVERYTHING is imported,adding to costs of existence.Even ship repair is only possible using L&T''s floating docks built for the IN.
Only high priced tourism keeps the Maldives afloat apart from exports of Maldy fish.

Imagine trying to support an island equiv. to Dubai ! Even Dubai has the large hinterland of the UAE and Saudi Arabia as locations for all support services, manufacturing,etc. The ANC doesn't even have the oil! Are you going to cut down the entire forests of the ANC and set up industries,refineries,oil tank farms,etc.? Asinine! Idiots,cretins and morons have dreamt up this nightmare.

Oh! Why it will be a definite collossal failure too is because the Chin Colombo Port City in our backyard is a decade ahead in progress and has got the nod from the SL SC to be run independently by the Chins, who have a hell-of-a-lot more wampum,tael,yuan, than the GOI and its steadily declining-in-value humble rupee! Wages in SL are low too.China also plans to
import lakhs of cheap Chin/prison labour to build everything,run everything ,with the locals mere vassal,servile, politically impotent manpower,kept under the jackboot of local despot the GOAT, who's continued rule is guaranteed by the Chin military.Plans are well underfoot for the Sinisation of the Lankan military and in a few years the 100,000 + strong Lankan armed forces will be integrated into the great gameplan of the PRC with war material from the PRC,training by the Pakis too,with India relegated to tjf sidelines.
The PRC has watched the resistance in Hong Kong
v.carefully and wish to keep control using the harshest of measures.This may attract sanctions,etc. from the " democratic" west. Hence the Lankan gambit.

Acquiring Sri Lanka below the southern tip of India is a brilliant strategic move which our MEA jokers failed to prevent.Within few years now the Colombo Port City will be up and running, attracting most of the major intl. investment as technically it will belong to SL but in reality a de-facto Chin colony. Long befor we break ground in the ANC given our bungling babudom, the Chin Port City
will be humming with activity drawing even big investors from India who want freedom from GOI govtl. controls! Lankans are already resigned to their fate and are calling their country, not Sri Lanka but " Chi Lanka" !

What we should do instead is to further fortify the ANC and LDW as major military maritime fortresses astride the SLOCs ,where our milware can be concealed in secret, ready to do battle in the Malscca Straits and beyond into the ICS too..
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by S_Madhukar »

We should have developed all our islands for proper ecotourism… That would have meant jobs and money flowing in and link with the mainland… ferries and shipping would have been needed and the shipping industry would have thrived… that’s the disadvantage of being ruled from Delhi, no idea of sea economy. We are probably the only maritime country with negligible understanding of islands and sea power. The evangelist has reached ANC but Indian people can’t do so easily
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by Sachin »

It is also time to have a closer eye on Lakshadweep as Kashmir-like entitlement and love for Shariah seems to be growing out there. Plus cases of smuggling of weapons and contraband stuff as well. And GoI seems to be having good intel on the situation.
Situation in Lakshadweep.
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by VinodTK »

What’s the Purpose of India’s Military Base in Mauritius?
he Mauritian government confirmed in a press release on 18 May that India is fully financing a new three-kilometer-long runway on the island of North Agalega where New Delhi has had a military base since 2015. Observers reported these construction efforts a few months ago, speculating on India’s strategic intentions. These include Australia’s prestigious Lowy Institute, which wrote in March that “India regards the new base to be essential for facilitating both air and surface maritime patrols in the south-west Indian Ocean, and as an intelligence outpost.” They additionally noted that “Agalega will also facilitate maritime patrols over the Mozambique Channel – now a popular passage for large commercial ships, particularly oil tankers.”

That point is particularly important in light of the “Mozambique News Reports & Clippings” expert-level newsletter’s 16 May publication. Editor Joseph Hanlon mostly focused on the possibility of France expanding its security presence in northern Mozambique in order to protect national champion Total’s offshore energy investments there from growing insurgent threats. Of relevance, however, was his prediction that “It seems likely that Total and France will demand that the French navy take control of the Cabo Delgado coastal waters and the gas area to get the terror listing lifted quickly, and maintain control for some years to come. But it would be possible to carry out joint patrols with the Mozambican, South Africa and Indian navies.”

Expanding Hard Power Footprint
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Philip
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by Philip »

LDW which is a v.peaceful part of the nation, v.low if not almost non-existant crime, is now in the throes of an anti- Administrator,one Praful Khoda Patel who is behaving like Pol Pot Patel, literally making himself chieftain with XI like powers cornering all island property unto his control to evict and hand over land to his developer cronies and introducing liquor into a dry region,ostensibly to promote tourism. His diktats have earned the ire of even BJP partymen. More details are available in the media.

The GOI should replace him with a retd. or serving military man of 2/3 * rank, given its sensitive location.
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by Nihat »

Absolutely, we must relavent old hags like him from our setup. On everything, he had shown more propensity to do damage rather than good
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by arshyam »

^^ Perhaps a quick tour of the internal security thread may do you both gentlemen some good. Low crime rate, yeah right. Are you aware that the previous lt governor was found dead under mysterious circumstances?
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by Sachin »

Philip wrote:LDW which is a v.peaceful part of the nation, v.low if not almost non-existant crime, is now in the throes of an anti- Administrator
Nihat wrote:Absolutely, we must relavent old hags like him from our setup. On everything, he had shown more propensity to do damage rather than good
Looks like you are relying on English Main stream media to form your opinions. Malayalam Main stream media is worse in spreading of half-truths and out right lies, but I get a feeling that English media is relying on them to get the inputs. Lakshadweep was not in the radar of any one, and so no one knew that this was also becoming a Shariah compliant group of islands.

The low crime rates is nothing but incorrect statistics. Crimes are NOT getting reported in the islands mainly because for serious offences the petitioners and accused will have to make repeated visits to Kavaratti (superior police officers are all there). Kangaroo courts (Shariah-compliant) are now adjudicating on cases including those in which women & children are involved.

Please refer to the other posts in BRF itself.
Situation in Lakshadweep
About religious tolerance in Lakshadweep
Islanders love (!?) for movies

Reforms in Lakshadweep aims at public welfare; justifies collector.
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by Maria »

Why is a lifelong Congoon man still a Lt. Governor in LDW?
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by chetak »

lakshadweep has become safe haven for ISIS/TJ terrorists from TN, Kerala, maldives and SL.

It was always a place where "others" were not welcome and it continues to be so even today.

It is both an internal security issue, as well as, a serious NATSEC issue as inimical foreign entities are involved.

The "sheds" were demolished because they contravened existing laws on constructions in the demarcated coastal zones which did not allow it. They were simply asked to follow the law. Properties purposely built very close to the coastline are often used for nefarious activities under such prevailing circumstances.

Every coastal state in India has similar laws in existence for ages. nothing special or discriminatory here as is being maliciously made out by the commies and other wokes.

a lot of the islanders are fairly well to do because a large number of jehadi menfolk are working as well paid merchant marine sailors who send money back home and also very thoughtfully bring back AIDS from their foreign jaunts which they then democratically distribute among family and friendly neighbors
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by VinodTK »



Why The Lakshadweep Administrator’s Policies Are Sparking Anger Amongst Locals
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by chetak »

Image
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by Arima »

is it true that outsiders cannot buy property in Lakshadweep? if true then its shocker. such policies which are against 1 nation should be thrown away.
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by ArjunPandit »

arshyam wrote:^^ Perhaps a quick tour of the internal security thread may do you both gentlemen some good. Low crime rate, yeah right. Are you aware that the previous lt governor was found dead under mysterious circumstances?
can you please provide details? I see only news of admin dying from lung disease?
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by chetak »

from the horse's mouth

read what the Lakshadweep Collector Asker Ali is saying


Vested Interests Running Illegal Businesses In Lakshadweep Fuelling Misinformation And Propaganda, Alleges Collector Asker Ali

Vested Interests Running Illegal Businesses In Lakshadweep Fuelling Misinformation And Propaganda, Alleges Collector Asker Ali

Harsha Bhat
May 28, 2021


Vested Interests Running Illegal Businesses In Lakshadweep Fuelling Misinformation And Propaganda, Alleges Collector Asker Ali
Lakshadweep Collector S Asker Ali


Snapshot
Lakshadweep Collector S Asker Ali addressed the media, clarifying that attempts to derail developmental work in the region were being made by those who led to the region staying underdeveloped even after 73 years.


Here are some reforms listed by Collector Ali to make Lakshadweep "self-reliant".

A series of administrative reforms introduced in Lakshadweep after Prafulla Khoda Patel took over as the Governor garnered a lot of attention with campaigns painting them as being essentially "anti-Muslim" and the beginning of the "sanghification" or "saffronisation" of the island.

Neighbouring Kerala was quite vocal about its unhappiness with the changes in certain laws, with both United Democratic Front (UDF) and Left Democratic Front (LDF) leaders calling the moves an attempt to "raze the culture and economy of the islands" and equating the reforms to the centre's actions in Kashmir.

Lakshadweep Collector S Asker Ali on Thursday addressed the media, clarifying that attempts to derail developmental work in the region were a brainchild of vested interests whose business motives have led to the region staying underdeveloped even after 73 years.

Ali said the steps taken by the administration in the recent past have ushered in a new direction and momentum to the development of the island. "The administration has laid the foundation for the future of Lakshadweep in a planned way," he added.

Images of the administration having broken down settlements, removal of landing centres under CRZ were doing the rounds calling the moves "cultural evasion" and acts of "destroying the social fabric of the islands". Responding to these allegations, Ali reiterated that "a self-motivated propaganda is being carried out by vested interest," while action to remove illegal encroachments at various places has been on for some time and isn't a recent move.

Among the moves being termed "anti-Muslim" was the rule about those with more than two children not be permitted to contest Panchayat elections. But as clarified, the provision of this Panchayat Act will only apply to the parents of infants born after the due date of notification when notified.

The other criticism was that the beef ban was an attack on the food habits of islanders, 96.58 per cent of whom are Muslim, according to the 2011 census. But according to Ali, the "cow protection" law introduced in Lakshadweep is on the same lines as in many other states of the country. "Only those who are associated with its illegal business and those who have personal interests are propagating against this legislation," explained Ali.

The Lakshadweep Prevention of Anti-social Activities 2021 is being called the "Goonda Act" by the opposition leaders demanding it be done away, citing "low crime rate" and "nominal violations of the rule". But, Ali defended the need for stricter laws in the islands to secure the future of its next generation.

"Keeping in view the internal security and the future of the youth, a few days ago 300 kg heroin with an international value of 3000 crore and five AK 47 rifles and 1000 live rounds were confiscated. Similarly, many cases of illegal smuggling of marijuana and liquor and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) have also been reported here. In this small Union Territory, the future of youth here is expected to be clouded by such illegal business," he said, emphasising the need for strict and stringent laws, "so that the youth here are not misguided".


The administration also requested the Food Corporation of India to transport the food grains supplied under NFSA and midday meals to all islands, which earlier landed at one of them and was taken further by locals. "The vested interests misused the arrangement (earlier) and sold the ration in the open market. This practice would now be curbed and there would be a saving in the cost of distribution. The loss caused by the above initiative to the food mafia has prompted them to propagate misinformation campaign," alleged Ali.

Elaborating on the administrative reforms that have "ushered in new direction and momentum to the development in the island," Ali said, "the administration has laid the foundation for the future of Lakshadweep in a planned way,".

Here are some of the reforms listed by the Collector and how they will benefit the union territory and make it "self reliant":

1. Three eco-friendly tourism water villa projects are being developed for tourism development by the Lakshadweep Administration in collaboration with NITI Aayog on the lines of Maldives in Minicoy, Kadmat and Suheli, and the progress on the same shall start from August 2021. With this, tourism will get a new dimension and tourists will get facilities for accommodation and entertainment, and local people will get new opportunities for employment and business.

2. Until now, only low-capacity aircraft (such as ATR aircraft) were able to land at Agatti airport, due to which national and international tourists could come only in small numbers. The administration has started the process of expansion of Agatti airstrip in collaboration with the Government of India. This will enable high capacity aircrafts such as Boeing and Airbus to land here, which shall facilitate connectivity and promote tourism.

3. Keeping in view the disaster management, medical facilities and strategic security, the helipad of Kavaratti is being equipped with night landing facilities so that the Coast Guard and Navy choppers will also be able to park and operate from this helipad.

4. On the agricultural front, there are around 10.5 lakh coconut trees on the island and about 10.5 crore coconuts are produced annually. However, to date, the value addition and marketing of coconut and its produce has not been developed on a commercial level, due to which farmers are not getting fair value of their production.

The administration has taken the initiative with Coconut Development Board, Coir Board Kochi and NCDC to promote value addition and processing of coconut so that the income of the farmers will be doubled.

5 . Tuna fish is found in abundance in the sea here. Approximately 25,000 metric tons of fish are caught every year, of which 92 per cent is tuna fish. But due to the lack of proper arrangement of ice and fish processing here, fishermen do not get a fair price for their catch.

Taking steps in this direction, the administration has set up an ice plant in Minicoy, Bitra, Agatti (in addition to Kavaratti and Kadmat), and an ice plant is being set up in Amini. This will help preserve the value and quality of Tuna Fish.

MOU has been signed with NCDC for state-of-the- art promotion to increase exports of tuna. Along with this, new markets are being explored by NCDC, MPEDA and other institutions for fish exports so that fishermen can get fair value for their products.

6. For economic empowerment and self-reliance of women in the Union Territory, the process has been started to make Lakshadweep the nation's largest hub of seaweed farming through the formation of Women Self Help Groups in the Union Territory.

7. A nursing college, and paramedical college and a new modern high school in Kavaratti and a polytechnic college in Minicoy are being set up to provide higher education opportunities in Lakshadweep.

Mechanical, Electrical and Marine engineering streams, which will start in the coming academic year at the Polytechnic College, will provide the youth of UT, especially Minicoy, a chance to train and join the Merchant Navy.

8. Sea facing hospitals are being constructed in Agatti, Minicoy, Andrott and Kavaratti. In order to deal with the pandemic, two oxygen plants are being installed by the Government of India in Agatti and Kavaratti, and one oxygen plant is being set up in Minicoy through CSR.

Harsha is a staff writer at Swarajya.
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by Sachin »

ArjunPandit wrote:can you please provide details? I see only news of admin dying from lung disease?
Please read the links which I have posted in this topic (should be 5-6 posts above your post).
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by arshyam »

ArjunPandit wrote:can you please provide details? I see only news of admin dying from lung disease?
You are right. I recalled reading something about his sudden death, and I found it mysterious in the sense that he wasn't that old and there were no reports about his ill health prior to his death.

I've edited my original post so as to not appear misleading.
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by arshyam »

Can't edit the original post anymore, so will do in a quoted reply. Please ignore the earlier post.
arshyam wrote:^^ Perhaps a quick tour of the internal security thread may do you both gentlemen some good. Low crime rate, yeah right. Are you aware that the previous lt governor was found dead under mysterious circumstances seemed to have died a rather sudden death?
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by Maria »

Maria wrote:Why is a lifelong Congoon man still a Lt. Governor in LDW?
Error on my part, my bad :P
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by Sachin »

Mean while more instances of 'secularism' from the Shariah compliant Lakshadweep :) :P.
Gandhi bust awaits unveiling in Lakshadweep. Poor Gandhi had actually made two trips to the islands from the mainland port a Kochi, but still the bust still could not find a good place in the island.

From the report (dating year 2010) - The Rs 2 lakh statue of the proponent of Ahimsa was to be installed and unveiled in Kavaratti in the Union Territory, but could not be offloaded due to what authorities say was "bad weather''. Highly placed sources, however, told TOI that local sentiments against the move had prompted the vessel to return to Kochi without offloading the cargo'.
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by chetak »

Arima wrote: infra development like wider and longer run way to accommodate bigger air craft,

the runway is already being lengthened and strengthened to accommodate larger wide body type aircraft. At present, only low capacity and the smaller ATR types of aircraft can land there.

I also suspect that the Navys P8Is will operate from this runway when needed, and that is the unstated objective. The existing smallish helipad is also being enlarged significantly to accommodate IN and ICG helos

The Indian flag is being shown in the area to disabuse the natives of any untoward ideas of geographical and territorial adventurism.

The message has gone home loud and clear, given the high decibel level of jehadi wailing, commie breast beating and woke liberandus bemoaning. The hans are primarily the originators in trying to block the center, via the commies in KER.
The Modi govt is tightening their grip on the Lakshadweep island chain to prevent trouble from breaking out, arrest any further down sliding and, finally to reverse further deterioration of the already dicey situation.

the presence of the IN, ICG and the IAF sorties from the mainland will soon increase from passive deterrence levels to an unmistakable capacity for active offensive interventions should the need arise.

The amerikis have anyway stirred the pot when they so rudely transitted the Lakshadweep waters in a man of war.
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by Philip »

LDW security is v.easy to ensure,simply hand over its security to the armed forces as in the ANC. There will be no problem with that,further
developing our infra for national security.In the ANC you have a Fortress Commander of three-star rank,have a similar one or two star sr. officer here since the territory is much smaller.

But simply throwing out native islanders from their homes and land handing it over not for national security reasons,but supposedly for "tourism",according to the whims and fancies of Pol Pot Patel's bum-chum developers is scandalous,criminal and equivalent to barefaced brigandry .This has not been seen or practised by any state governor or Lt.Governor ever! The joker is acting like a despot and must be removed and replaced with extreme haste .Let's not have another new festering sore in the nation's outlying territory thanks to cretinous individuals with apparent vested interests.

I said earlier that LDW must be further developed for military purposes primarily ,as the Chins are doing with their atolls illegally stolen in the Indo-China Sea,by linking some of the islands/atolls with causeways ,land reclamation,etc. In the Maldives a bridge was built linking Male with the airport.
I mentioned the Churchill barriers in the Orkney Islands in the UK,creating safe anchorages for our warships and subs,plus at least two to three airstrips. Using amphib seaplanes will be most useful too,such as the BE-200,developing a Do-228 seaplane variant,etc. This would further extend our reach into the IOR/Arabian Sea by an extra few hundred KMs and turn LDW into a far more capable military fortress than even DG. Selected sites for tourism can be identified with the local inhabitants so all benefit.

PS:See the speed with which Putin built the Kerch road and rail bridges,Europe's longest, linking the Crimea to Russian territory is an example to be emulated,where we can link some of the most strategic LDW islands.
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by chetak »

Image
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by kit »

Philip wrote:
But simply throwing out native islanders from their homes and land handing it over not for national security reasons,but supposedly for "tourism",according to the whims and fancies of Pol Pot Patel's bum-chum developers is scandalous,criminal and equivalent to barefaced brigandry .This has not been seen or practised by any state governor or Lt.Governor ever! The joker is acting like a despot and must be removed and replaced with extreme haste .Let's not have another new festering sore in the nation's outlying territory thanks to cretinous individuals with apparent vested interests.


PS:See the speed with which Putin built the Kerch road and rail bridges,Europe's longest, linking the Crimea to Russian territory is an example to be emulated,where we can link some of the most strategic LDW islands.
what exactly is the takleef with the admin ? .. building houses very near to the coast for nefarious purposes is a strategic concern esp in this region !
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by Manish_P »

^ I find it even more amazing that Russia finds a way of getting into a thread about Lakshwadeep :D
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by Sachin »

Philip wrote:But simply throwing out native islanders from their homes and land handing it over not for national security reasons,but supposedly for "tourism"
Sir, the buildings which got demolished are the fishermen's hut (for temporary rest) which was built in ecologically sensitive areas. None of the houses where people live have been demolished. Secondly, even for big tourism projects the islands chosen are uninhabited (ones like Bangaram). From what I could understand; the islanders were having a 100% Shariah compliant life and generally no one noticed it. Now the present government have assessed the ground situation and is taking corrective steps. The fact that the islanders could get support from their co-religionists in Kerala also shows that both of them together had some other plans for the islands. Another move by the Administrator was making the requisition of helicopters for medical rescue follow the laid down procedures (including making formal requests which are trackable, and also vetting the requests via a four member medical board).

Mean while Kerala High Court has also thrown out a petition to annul the draft regulations.
Kerala HC declines to stay new draft regulation in Lakshadweep
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by arshyam »

Swarajya weighs in...

'Save Lakshadweep’: What’s Going On? by Venu Gopal Narayanan

Has some more details...
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by rsingh »

chetak wrote:Image
Why it is "suspected".
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Re: India’s Ocean Territories (Andaman Nicobar & Lakshadweep)

Post by VinodTK »

^^^^^
https://www.reddit.com/r/IndianDefense/comments/nnkc0r/ins_baaz_at_campbell_bay_has_in_the_last_few/
INS Baaz at Campbell Bay has in the last few months expanded its runway, possibly boosting #IndianNavy operation eastward over the #IndianOcean & #MalaccaStrait, the site is expected to host Boeing P-8I after additional runway expansion.

Indian Defence Updates : (some coverage on INS Bazz from 3:00 minutes onwards)

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