Bay of Bengal may be future spot for Sino-Indian conflict, says top Indian submariner

Bay of Bengal has the makings of a vibrant trading and cultural comity of nations, but it could also emerge as the zone of Sino-Indian conflict in future.

The comment came from Vice-Admiral Pradeep Kumar Chatterjee, who recently retired as the chief of India's only tri-service  Andaman-Nicobar military command, while he was addressing a workshop organised by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF).

Chatterjee, India's most experienced submariner, said China attaches a lot of importance to its land-to-sea routes because it has a limited coast in the east.

"That cannot fuel the huge engine of Chinese economy, so they need openings to the sea through other countries like Pakistan, Myanmar and Bangladesh  Therefore China is paranoid aboiut the Malacca Straits which it treats as a chokepoint," said Chatterjee.

He said China will push very hard to protect these land-to-sea routes . " It would be wrong to imagine China is trying to encircle India. They need these routes for their economic growth," he said.

Vice-Admiral Chatterjee said that China will increase its aggresive naval presence in the Bay of Bengal . "We have found a growing movement of their warships and submarines, they do it in the cover of fighting piracy but do we need submarines to fight piracy."

Chatterjee did not attach much importance to Bangladesh's acquisitions of two Chinese submarines. "They are old model submarines, they pose no threat for India. Bangladesh has aspirations and these acquisitions satisfy that."

Chatterjee said China and India have an unresolved border . " But I don't think the Chinese will attack us from the north. If they do, they will suffer much because there is no chance of a surprise and our army is well prepared."

He said the gap between the capability of the Indian and Chinese navies has been sharply increasing. "That is why they may hit us in the sea."

Mohammed Shafiqul Haque, BIWTA director of marine safety, called for greater importance on inland waterways for improving maritime connectivity in South Asia.

"We need our inland waterways protocols to be further de-bureaucratised and made more realistic," said Haque.

Sri Lanka's shipping expert Rohan Masakorala said India has 'missed many chances" in increasing its presence in Sri Lanka's burgeoning shipping logistics.

"China is there because India is not there."