Dr. David Brewster, a distinguished Research Fellow with the Australia India Institute, in his treatise in ‘Real Clear Defense’ had stated: “China has gone from essentially zero presence in the Indian Ocean around a decade ago to a fairly sizeable fleet averaging perhaps four to five surface vessels (plus submarine deployments), although this number fluctuates during crossovers between transiting vessels. China now operates a naval base in Djibouti and no doubt has plans for additional bases in the region”. That scenario understandably makes a lot of people nervous, most of all New Delhi, which has its own aspirations in the Indian Ocean. China’s entry in the Indian Ocean region, through economic investments, political influence, and military presence along the Maritime Silk Road has significantly altered regional dynamics. China’s ties with regional states have deepened, including the influx of Chinese capital into construction projects in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
India and the US believe, China’s acquisition of strategically located deep water ports in Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Maldives could eventually serve a military purpose. India and China continue to build up military capabilities in the ocean region. China continues to deploy greater numbers of naval forces in the western Indian Ocean, and invests and builds up the defence capabilities of India’s neighbors by selling arms and equipment, which has highly disturbed Indians. More than the economic reasons, Sri Lanka’s strategic location inspired Beijing to develop a strategic relationship with Sri Lanka. China is also concerned with the growing US presence in the region and Indo-US naval cooperation in the Indian Ocean. The deployment of half a dozen SU30 at Thanjavur Tamil Nado, just 65 miles from international maritime boundary between India and Sri Lanka is meant to counter Chinese threat and increase influence in Indian Ocean region.
The Indian Ocean may be calm on the surface but, on the strategic front, it is a hotbed and possibly the home to multiple conflicts. With the US’ quest for future control with its new Indo-Pacific strategy, China and India are not lagging behind. India has clearly displayed its regional hegemonic ambitions. Both China and India have acquired strategic assets across the ocean and hope to monitor and control movements in future. The Indian Ocean is very important due to the thousands of barrels of oil that passes through it on a daily basis and caters to the world’s industries. India has spent scores of billions of dollars to enhance its defence capability, and now it plans to modernize and upgrade its fleet of Russian-made SU 30 MKI for the Indian Air Force (IAF).
Speaking at Electronic Warfare Asia symposium in Singapore last month, retired Air Marshal Daljit Singh said: “The Sukhoi is quite obviously a superb and powerful platform. In terms of the carriage capability and its range it has great utility but the reality is that the program originally came online in 1997 and there have been numerous technological advancements since then that dictate an update for the aircraft.” The IAF has acquired more than 250 of the type, most of which have been licence-assembled at the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) plant in Nasik, India. Singh said two key elements in the Su-30MKI – the radar and the electronic warfare (EW) suite – are falling behind the current state-of-the-art elements and need to be upgraded. The radar is the NIIP N011M Bars radar, which is only a passive electronically scanned array (PESA) system and would need to be replaced with active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar to give Su-30MKI crews a higher level of situational awareness.