Great Nicobar project key for India’s economic growth and military footprint, its opposition will benefit China: Defence veterans

Defence veterans, including a former Air Force chief, publicly backed the Great Nicobar Island development project, calling it vital for India's national sec...

What Happened

Defence veterans, including a former Air Force chief, publicly backed the Great Nicobar Island development project, calling it vital for India's national security and military posture in the Indian Ocean Region.
The veterans argued that opposition to the project benefits China by undermining India's ability to monitor and, if necessary, interdict Chinese naval movements between the Pacific and Indian Ocean.
The project — a ₹72,000 crore holistic development initiative approved by the Cabinet in 2021 — includes a transshipment port, an international airport, a township, and a dual-use military facility at the southernmost tip of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago.

Static Topic Bridges

The Malacca Dilemma and India's Strategic Counter

The "Malacca Dilemma" is a term coined in 2003 by China's then-General Secretary to describe China's acute strategic vulnerability: approximately 80% of China's crude oil imports transit the Strait of Malacca, a narrow chokepoint between the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra. Any hostile naval power positioned near the strait could, in theory, embargo China's energy supplies. Great Nicobar Island sits barely 150 km from this strait, giving India a rare permanent sovereign platform astride the most contested maritime real estate in the Indo-Pacific.

The Strait of Malacca handles over 60,000 vessels annually, including roughly 80% of China's energy imports.
A dual-use port and airstrip at Great Nicobar would allow Indian Navy destroyers, submarines, and P-8I maritime patrol aircraft to operate within striking distance of the strait.
Signals intelligence (SIGINT) and over-the-horizon radar arrays at the site would provide continuous surveillance of submarine and surface movements across the eastern Indian Ocean.

Connection to this news: Defence veterans cite the Malacca Dilemma as the primary strategic logic — India's ability to monitor Chinese naval traffic between the Pacific and Indian Ocean depends critically on forward basing at Great Nicobar.

String of Pearls and the Indian Ocean Competition

The "String of Pearls" describes China's strategy of establishing a network of commercial and strategic port facilities along the Indian Ocean's sea lanes of communication (SLOCs) — from Gwadar (Pakistan) through Hambantota (Sri Lanka) to Kyaukphyu (Myanmar) and Djibouti. Each facility extends China's logistical reach and intelligence-gathering capacity, while also encircling India's maritime periphery. India's response has been to develop its own forward presence, with the Andaman and Nicobar Command (established 2001) being the institutional expression of this counter-strategy.

China's Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka was acquired on a 99-year lease in 2017 after Sri Lanka defaulted on Chinese loans.
China operates surveillance infrastructure at Myanmar's Coco Islands, roughly 55 km north of India's Andaman archipelago.
The Andaman and Nicobar Command is India's only tri-service theatre command, headquartered at Port Blair.

Connection to this news: Great Nicobar represents India's most significant effort to convert passive strategic geography into active operational capacity, directly countering China's IOR encirclement.

EEZ, UNCLOS, and India's Maritime Jurisdiction

Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), a state's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) extends 200 nautical miles from its baselines, granting exclusive rights over resource exploitation and economic activities. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands add approximately 300,000 sq. km to India's EEZ, making them economically as well as strategically critical. India has additionally petitioned the UN for an extended continental shelf beyond 200 nm on the basis of geological evidence.

India has the 18th-largest EEZ globally, totalling approximately 2.3 million sq. km.
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands share maritime boundaries with Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, and Bangladesh.
UNCLOS permits extension of EEZ up to 350 nm where continental shelf evidence supports it — India filed such a claim in 2009-2010.

Connection to this news: The project leverages India's legitimate UNCLOS-based maritime jurisdiction to build infrastructure that transforms legal entitlement into physical strategic capacity.

Transshipment Economy and Blue Economy

India currently captures very little global transshipment traffic — most Indian exports are transshipped through Colombo, Singapore, or Klang, costing the economy billions in fees annually. The Great Nicobar transshipment port, designed for Ultra-Large Container Vessels (ULCVs) with natural deep-water access exceeding 20 metres, aims to position India as South Asia's premier transshipment node. This aligns with India's Blue Economy vision and the Maritime India Vision 2030 framework, which targets doubling port capacity and increasing maritime trade.

A "transshipment port" acts as a hub where cargo is transferred between large ocean-going vessels and smaller feeder ships serving regional ports.
Maritime India Vision 2030 envisions developing 23 new waterways and making Indian ports globally competitive.
The project is being implemented by ANIIDCO (Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation).

Connection to this news: Veterans argue the project is simultaneously a military and economic imperative — it reduces India's dependence on foreign transshipment hubs while enabling naval power projection.

Key Facts & Data

Great Nicobar Island is the southernmost and largest of the Nicobar Islands, located at approximately 7°N latitude.
The island is approximately 150 km from the Strait of Malacca and 1,300 km from the Indian mainland.
Total project cost: ₹72,000 crore (approved by Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in 2021).
The island is home to the indigenous Shompen tribe and is designated a Biosphere Reserve — environmental concerns have been a central point of public debate.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) granted a conditional clearance to the project in early 2026.
India's Andaman and Nicobar Command was established in 2001 as the country's first and only tri-service theatre command.