Kolkata: India has taken up with Myanmar
reports of China having a maritime `base` in the strategic
Coco islands near the Andamans islands but was told there is
no movement of the Chinese Navy in the area, a top Naval
officer said today.
The officer also said the Navy had no report of any
Chinese presence in the Indian waters near the Andaman and
Nicobar islands.
"There is no report of any Chinese movement in our waters
in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands," Flag Officer
Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Naval Command Vice Admiral
Anup Singh said when asked about reports of Chinese incursion
into Indian waters.
On reports of Chinese presence in the Coco Islands
near the Andamans, Singh said India had taken up the issue
with Myanmar which has jurisdiction over the island, but the
latter had denied the report.
"We have had a dialogue with the Myanmar government which
has clarified there is no Chinese presence in Coco islands,"
he added.
Coco Islands are a pair of strategically important
islands located in the eastern Indian Ocean, politically
administered by Myanmar under Yangon Division. Geographically,
they are a part of the Andaman Islands archipelago and
separated from the North Andaman Island (India) by the 20-km
wide Coco Channel.
Singh, who was talking to newsmen after the commissioning
ceremony of two Water Jet propelled Fast Attack Craft, said
fishing trawlers from neighbouring countries occasionally
forayed into the Indian waters but they were intercepted by
the Coast Guards.
Bureau Report
