New Delhi: The Chinese dragon’s footprints in the Indian Ocean seem to be growing by the day, with reports of satellite imagery indicating that a Chinese nuclear-powered submarine had docked at Pakistan’s Karachi port in May last year.
Initial reports of the submarine docking at Karachi had surfaced in May last year itself but the satellite imagery now appears to have triggered fresh concern in the Indian security establishment.
The Indian Navy has been closely monitoring movement of foreign vessels in the Indian Ocean in India’s vicinity, especially Chinese submarines which may have been keeping a close watch on Indian warships.
This comes at a time when the Indian Navy itself desperately needs fresh induction of submarines to replenish its ageing fleet.
During the tenure of the Rajapaksa regime in Sri Lanka earlier, the presence of Chinese nuclear submarines in Sri Lankan waters had shaken New Delhi which had promptly taken up the matter with the then regime in Colombo.
In fact, an internal defence thinktank correspondent of the Indian Government prepared a few years ago had revealed that, “China’s recent strategic manoeuvres in and around the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) pose a threat to both India’s economic and security interests.
