India steps up maritime surveillance
India is tightening its monitoring of strategic entry points into the Indian Ocean after it emerged the Indian Navy (IN) deployed for the first time a pair of Boeing P-8I maritime patrol aircraft to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The archipelago, India’s farthest outpost, is some 1,200km from the mainland and the P-8Is are believed to have been stationed at Utkrosh Naval Air Station in the capital Port Blair for a fortnight-long rotation. The IN and Indian Air Force (IAF) are also operating Searcher II UAVs on a temporary basis from the islands.
India is concerned by the perennial presence
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