Friday, October 21, 2011

Another Dornier to patrol Maldives

India has deployed another naval Dornier aircraft in Maldives to help the Indian Ocean nation in anti-piracy patrols and maritime surveillance.

"The Dornier will operate from Male and other places from Wednesday for at least three weeks," said an official. This comes shortly after TOI reported that alarm bells were ringing in the Indian security establishment over renewed efforts by China to further expand its footprint in Maldives.


Ever since defence minister A K Antony's visited Maldives in August 2009, Indian warships and Dornier aircraft have been regularly assisting the 1,190-island archipelago in maritime patrolling.

New Delhi, apart from hydrographic surveys and other military assistance, is also assisting Male to set up a network of ground radars in all its 26 atolls and link them with the Indian military surveillance systems. Antony, incidentally, just last week had held that the Navy was mandated to be "a net security provider" for island nations in the Indian Ocean.

Source: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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