The Battle for the Indian Ocean: Why the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Could Shape the Indo-Pacific
Recap of Part II: America, Russia and India’s Geographic Advantage
The previous instalment examined how the United States, Russia and India are positioning themselves in the evolving maritime competition across the Indian Ocean. It also explained why India’s central location provides a strategic advantage that no rival can replicate. In this part, we move beyond geography to explore the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India’s most valuable maritime asset, and assess how the Great Nicobar Project could reshape the security architecture of the eastern Indian Ocean.
The Islands That Guard the Eastern Indian Ocean
The strategic importance of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is often overlooked. Scattered across the eastern edge of the Bay of Bengal, this chain of more than 500 islands places India in a commanding position overlooking one of the world’s busiest maritime corridors.
Situated barely 150 kilometres from Indonesia and close to the western approaches of the Strait of Malacca, the islands form India’s forward operating bastion in the Indo-Pacific. Each year, tens of thousands of merchant ships carrying crude oil, liquefied natural gas, manufactured goods and raw materials pass through these waters. Much of China’s imported energy and international trade also transits these sea lanes before reaching the South China Sea.
For any nation seeking to understand the strategic significance of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, geography provides the answer.
The island chain overlooks several critical maritime passages, including the Six Degree Channel, the Ten Degree Channel, Duncan Passage and the Preparis Channel. While not all commercial traffic passes through these routes, together they form an interconnected maritime gateway between the Bay of Bengal, the Andaman Sea and the wider Indo-Pacific.
This geography enables India to maintain sustained surveillance over shipping movements entering and leaving the eastern Indian Ocean. Maritime patrol aircraft, naval surface combatants, submarines, coastal radar systems and satellite surveillance collectively provide a layered picture of maritime activity across the region.
Recognising the islands’ strategic value, India established the Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) in 2001 as the country’s first and only integrated tri-service command. Bringing together the Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard under a unified command structure has significantly improved operational coordination, surveillance and rapid response capabilities.
Since then, India has steadily expanded military infrastructure across the islands. Airfields have been upgraded to accommodate larger aircraft, naval facilities have been modernised, coastal surveillance systems have been strengthened, and logistical support has improved considerably. These developments allow Indian forces to sustain longer deployments while responding more quickly to emerging contingencies.
The islands also play an increasingly important role during peacetime. They support humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions, anti-piracy patrols, search and rescue operations and multinational naval exercises. Their location enables India to provide security assistance across the eastern Indian Ocean while reinforcing its role as a preferred maritime security partner for many regional states.
Far from being isolated outposts, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands have become one of India’s most valuable strategic assets.
Great Nicobar: Transforming India’s Maritime Reach
If the Andaman and Nicobar Islands represent India’s existing strategic advantage, the Great Nicobar Island Development Project seeks to transform that advantage into long-term maritime capability.
Located at the southern tip of the island chain, Great Nicobar sits only a short distance from the western approaches to the Strait of Malacca. Its location makes it one of the closest Indian territories to one of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints.
The project envisages the development of a modern transshipment port at Galathea Bay, a dual-use international airport, expanded power generation, road infrastructure and an integrated township. Although conceived primarily as an economic development initiative, the infrastructure also carries significant strategic implications.
A deep-water transshipment port would reduce India’s dependence on foreign ports for container traffic while strengthening its commercial position in regional shipping. At the same time, improved harbour facilities could support larger naval vessels, replenishment operations and maritime logistics during periods of heightened operational activity.
Similarly, a longer runway capable of handling large military transport aircraft would substantially improve India’s ability to deploy personnel, equipment and humanitarian assistance across the eastern Indian Ocean. Enhanced logistics infrastructure would reduce response times during natural disasters while strengthening operational resilience during military contingencies.
For the Indian Navy, the project represents more than infrastructure expansion. It is about increasing India’s operational endurance.
Modern naval operations depend not only on ships and aircraft but also on fuel storage, maintenance facilities, ammunition depots, communications infrastructure and secure logistics chains. Every improvement made on Great Nicobar extends the duration and effectiveness of Indian maritime deployments across the eastern Indian Ocean.
The project has, however, attracted considerable environmental scrutiny. Great Nicobar possesses rich biodiversity, tropical rainforests and ecologically sensitive coastal ecosystems that support several endangered species. Environmental groups have expressed concerns regarding habitat loss, coastal modification and the long-term ecological impact of large-scale infrastructure development.
The strategic importance of the project is therefore accompanied by an equally important challenge: balancing national security requirements with environmental conservation and sustainable development. How successfully India manages this balance will influence both the project’s long-term viability and its international perception.
Can India Control the Eastern Indian Ocean?
One of the most frequently debated questions among defence analysts is whether India could exercise effective control over the eastern Indian Ocean during a major regional conflict.
The answer is more nuanced than a simple yes or no.
India enjoys several natural advantages that significantly strengthen its maritime position. Geography provides shorter supply lines, faster reinforcement, extensive knowledge of the operating environment and the ability to sustain surveillance from land-based assets. Combined with naval aviation, submarines, surface combatants, missile systems and maritime reconnaissance aircraft, these advantages create a robust framework for sea control and sea denial operations.
Sea control does not imply absolute dominance over every square kilometre of the ocean. Rather, it refers to the ability to use designated maritime areas for one’s own purposes while preventing an adversary from doing the same for a specified period.
Similarly, sea denial seeks to make maritime operations prohibitively risky for an opponent without necessarily exercising complete control over the area.
In the eastern Indian Ocean, India’s island territories substantially strengthen both capabilities.
During a conflict, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands could support continuous surveillance of key shipping routes, facilitate anti-submarine warfare operations and provide forward operating bases for aircraft and naval forces. Long-range precision weapons deployed from the islands could complicate the movement of hostile naval forces operating near the western approaches to the Strait of Malacca.
However, any discussion of maritime blockades or interdiction operations must recognise significant legal, military and diplomatic constraints.
International shipping carries vessels belonging to numerous neutral states. Any attempt to enforce a comprehensive blockade would need to account for international law, escalation risks, coalition responses and the possibility of wider conflict. Modern naval warfare is rarely conducted in isolation, particularly in one of the world’s busiest commercial waterways.
Consequently, it is more accurate to state that India possesses the capability to impose substantial operational costs on an adversary operating in the eastern Indian Ocean rather than claiming it could completely close one of the world’s busiest maritime corridors.
That distinction is important because credible strategic analysis is built on realistic assessments of capability rather than absolute claims.
Continue Reading
The Battle for the Indian Ocean is a four-part geopolitical analysis tracing the historical evolution, strategic realities and future balance of power across the Indo-Pacific.
✔ Part I: The Ocean That Powers the World
✔ Part II: America, Russia and India’s Geographic Advantage
✔ Part III: The Islands That Could Shape the Indo-Pacific (Current Article)
✔ Part IV: Can India Shape the Future Maritime Balance?
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands provide India with significant strategic advantages, but geography alone cannot determine the outcome of future conflicts. In the concluding part of this series, we assess India’s ability to influence the wider Indian Ocean, examine its growing network of defence partnerships and consider whether New Delhi is prepared to emerge as a major maritime power shaping the future balance of the Indo-Pacific.
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Great Nicobar Island Project: India’s Strategic Development with Tribal Welfare
Great Nicobar Project: Strategic Importance, Sustainable Development
