'Next Kargil could happen in the Andamans'

[VeeraBahadur]

I would rather engage you in an intelligent conversation.

You would have risked full blown war and that would have resulted in Pakistan loosing whole JK.Your genral knew his limitations and boundries and acted accordingly.

 

[Indo-guy]

Panaji: India's next Kargil could happen in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, former Indian Navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash has said.

"There is a real threat that poachers, smugglers, narcotics traffickers or terrorist groups could occupy some of the uninhabited islands and create a Kargil-like situation," Adm. Arun Prakash said Sunday on the concluding day of a two-day workshop on the security of India's coastline and its islands organised by the Federation of Integrated National Security, an RSS-backed NGO on security affairs.

India was engaged in a bitter border conflict with Pakistan after its troops had occupied the Kargil heights in Jammu and Kashmir in 1999.

Adm. Arun Prakash said that the cluster of 573 Bay of Bengal islands threw up security challenges due to their unique location, being closer to Southeast Asia than peninsular India.

"They could become objects of desire for any country which harbours ambition of dominating the Bay of Bengal," he said at the workshop at Calangute, 15 km from here.

The strategic location of the Andamans made them so coveted that even when the British had decided to grant independence to India in 1947, the Royal Navy wanted to retain the islands so that they could dominate the Malacca Straits, Adm. Arun Prakash said.

"No sooner had this request been declined by the British government that (Mohammad Ali) Jinnah demanded them for Pakistan since they lay on the sea route joining the two wings of the country (Pakistan). Nehru had to make strenuous efforts to dissuade (then viceroy Louis) Mountbatten from taking this decision," he said.

"Another threat arose during the 1965 war (with Pakistan), when (Indonesian president) Soekarno ordered his navy to occupy some of the southern islands as a show of solidarity with Pakistan. Fortunately the war ended before anything could happen," Adm. Arun Prakash said.

`Next Kargil could happen in the Andamans`

I had discussed related issues in this particular thread some time back which largely went un noticed

Unsecured Islands Around Mumbai : Security threat ?

 

[karan.1970]

The ganja pm was "SUMMONED" by the US President, to exert pressure on him and have Pakistan retreat from held positions. It happened because the mighty India could not dislodge the 5000 Men, despite all her military might!! The biggest proof of it all is that even today, we have not vacated that strategic position and you could not push uncle Sam any more!!!

Most people in Pakistan as well as in USA have now accepted the fact that Nawaz Sharif was sent to USA by Musharraf to salvage whatever was left of the operation. With the fact that it was a PA op outed by Musharraf's intercepted conversation, the world opinion was bang against Pakistan for initiating hostilities. Musharraf knew that it was a Lose-Lose for him. Either India would (at a heavy cost) dislodge the Pakistani soldiers from the Kargil heights or failing that would cross LoC / activate International border as a counter attack to what the international body had now accepted as an attack by Pakistan. In both cases, Pakistan and PA stood to lose since the core objective was a land grab and then bank on International community to persuade India into a cease-fire..

Had your military been as capable or as effective, none, and let me repeat that again, NONE of the posts would still be with Pakistan.....sadly for you, the post with Pakistan is a slap on your retarded head for even thinking that you were in any decent military position.

One thing most Pakistani members here fail to understand is that military is but a tool and is only as strong/weak as the political will of the nation wielding that tool. Had it not been the case, USA would have never been defeated in Vietnam.. In this case also, Pakistan as a nation had no appetite for the deluded general's misadventure and India had no reservation in taking it all the way.. And the inevitable happened.. Comparing capabilities and individual braveries of soldiers is a futile exercise. In the end, what matters is the will behind the action and the extent a country/govt is willing to go to enforce that will..

And about the post, yaaawnn....!!!

You want to believe in UFO's or do you want to think logically? If you want to think, think on what Pakistan stood to lose in Kargil if we had refused to retreat? Just think about it with an open, cool mind and come back to me.

1. Pakistani soldiers who were now trapped without any air support and were being bomber by Bofors and Mirages
2. USA as a trusting friend (that you did anyway)
3. International support on Kashmir (that you did anyway)

 

[Ammyy]

Adm. Arun Prakash said that the cluster of 573 Bay of Bengal islands threw up security challenges due to their unique location, being closer to Southeast Asia than peninsular India.

I always thought this is actually advantage for India.

 

[GR!FF!N]

@Aarush

and can you believe it that Nehru gave away Coco Island to Myanmar????

 

[Indo-guy]

@Aarush

and can you believe it that Nehru gave away Coco Island to Myanmar????

Nehru did not give away Coco island to Myanmyar .

The island simply did not belong to India .... as they were part of British Burma since 1882 .


Coco Islands - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[godofwar]

Nehru did not give away Coco island to Myanmyar .

The island simply did not belong to India .... as they were part of British Burma since 1882 .

Going by same logic A & N islands don't belong to India either.Do you suggest we hand them over to Indonesia ?
The reason India got these islands was because Indian National Army under Netaji SC Bose "liberated" them with Japanese help in WW 2.

We gave Coco island to Burma as a show of goodwill and the irony is that the same island is now being used against us by China.

 

[Indo-guy]

Going by same logic A & N islands don't belong to India either.Do you suggest we hand them over to Indonesia ?
The reason India got these islands was because Indian National Army under Netaji SC Bose "liberated" them with Japanese help in WW 2.

We gave Coco island to Burma as a show of goodwill and the irony is that the same island is now being used against us by China.

You are making wrong comparisons. Even administratively Coco islands were never under Indian control .
while Andman and Nicobar were always part of British India. after all British housed the largest penal colony famed as kaala pani here .

No question of giving these islands to Indonesia does ever arose .

While coco islands were never even once under Indian control. This is mis-information spread by George Fernandez ! and news such as these are readily grabbed by chavunistic nationals who are always ready to condemn Nehru .

we have to be objective in our replies and responses and can't always be swayed blindly by our emotions ....

 

[janon]

I always thought this is actually advantage for India.

It has advantages and diadvantages. Advantage when we use it to project power offensively, to be used as a major base far away from India and closer to the places we need to project power. Disadvantage in terms of defending itself, because a foreign power can try and occupy it far more easily than they could invade or occupy a spot on or near mainland India. Not that any power can actually do that - only the US can invade and occupy Andaman against our will.

 

[Victory]

Retarded zee news article

 

[sancho]

I always thought this is actually advantage for India.

It is, as a forwarded post mainly for IN since they can operate vessels from A&N, in the Bay of Bengal and the Malacca Straight from there. But beeing closer to the borders to other countries than our main land, makes support and supplies more difficult too, that's why a permanent presence of force and the modernisation of infrastructure is important. However, the only countries that actually would see it as a strategic benefit are no neighboring countries, so there is also a bit of paranoia within the IN and their plans there.

 

[godofwar]

You are making wrong comparisons. Even administratively Coco islands were never under Indian control .
while Andman and Nicobar were always part of British India. after all British housed the largest penal colony famed as kaala pani here .

No question of giving these islands to Indonesia does ever arose .

While coco islands were never even once under Indian control. .

And A& N islands were under Indian control? :/
Both A-N and Coco islands were under British control.
Both were taken up by INA and Japanese forces.
Are you saying INA drove back British from Andaman and Nicobar but left Coco island alone ?
Not making any sense...

 

[Indo-guy]

And A& N islands were under Indian control? :/
Both A-N and Coco islands were under British control.
Both were taken up by INA and Japanese forces.
Are you saying INA drove back British from Andaman and Nicobar but left Coco island alone ?
Not making any sense...

Andaman and Nicobar were under British India control which were inherited by India after independence , Coco islands were under British Burma which were inherited by Myanmyar after independence .

This is just the way we inherited Ladakh from British India or Sikkim for that matter .

Just as we lost East Bengal as East Pakistan which was divided by British for administrative reasons .

We have to accept that we have inherited British blunders ...or British accomplishments being its successor state.

there can be no doubt about that .

If INA had driven back British from Andaman and nicobar . the same INA lost out to british subsequently and became POW . So your claim about INA winning back Andaman and nicobar winning it back from British does not hold true 'ultimately'.

We can not revisit history just because it suits us .

Coco islands never belonged to us in first place . and this is the undeniable fact.

 

[godofwar]

Andaman and Nicobar were under British India control which were inherited by India after independence , Coco islands were under British Burma which were inherited by Myanmyar after independence .

This is just the way we inherited Ladakh from British India or Sikkim for that matter .

Just as we lost East Bengal as East Pakistan which was divided by British for administrative reasons .

We have to accept that we have inherited British blunders ...or British accomplishments being its successor.

there can be no doubt about that .

If INA had drive back British from Andaman and nicobar . the same INA lost out to british subsequently and became POW . So your claim about INA winning back Andaman and nicobar winning it back from British does not hold true ultimately.

We can not revisit history just because it suits us .

Coco islands never belonged to us in first place . and this is the undeniable fact.

Yes Coco island was part of British Burma.Nobody is disputing that.
The point I am making is Indian govt. at time of partition leveraged INA's conquest of A & N archipelago (including Coco island) to get those territories from GB.British govt. did not hand over willingly.
I am not blaming Nehru but someone messed up.

 

[Indo-guy]

It has advantages and diadvantages. Advantage when we use it to project power offensively, to be used as a major base far away from India and closer to the places we need to project power. Disadvantage in terms of defending itself, because a foreign power can try and occupy it far more easily than they could invade or occupy a spot on or near mainland India. Not that any power can actually do that - only the US can invade and occupy Andaman against our will.

I am quite surprised and shocked by such languid comparisons between advantages and disadvantages of ' keeping' far away islands .
There is no iota of doubt that advantages of having control over such a vast archipelago far exceeds than any logistic disadvantages that may exist .

One single fact should put all the doubts to the rest and that - the chain of Andman and nicobar islands extends India's exclusive economic zone by 300,000 sq km . accounting for 30 % that is almost 1/3 rd of total EEZ area claimable by India .

It is rather shocking to even hear about the lamentations of logistical disadvantages of administrating or maintaining Andaman Nicobar when US,UK, France hold overseas hundreds of territories , islands millions km away from home land across the seven seas .....


This being one of the most cyclone and tsunami prone area - these islands act as important warning outposts which can save mainland from catastrophe that happened in 2010 !

The sheer scientific , economic , military , social , strategic , political , historical importance on Andaman Nicobar islands is so overwhelming that the so called disadvantages should not be even mentioned ...not in same breath ....not in same space ....!

I am quite surprised that Indian members are even discussing this ....