Wary of China, India to boost eastern naval fleet

KOLKATA, India (Reuters) - India will strengthen its naval fleet on the eastern front, the regional commander said on Wednesday, adding destroyers and frigates among other ships, in an apparent move to counter Chinese interest in the region.

Over the next five years or so, India's plans include stationing an aircraft carrier in the Bay of Bengal along with at least half of the 32 new warships and six submarines India plans to add to its fleet, Vice Admiral Raman Suthan said in Kolkata.

The announcement comes a few months after India's air force said it would strengthen its presence in the east, adding new fighter jets and moving two squadrons of 36 state-of-the-art Russian-built Sukhoi-30 aircraft to the area.

They are also adding advanced helicopters, strengthening runways and upgrading other air force facilities - an apparent move to counter China's might.

"China has fuel interests of its own as fuel lines from Africa and the Gulf run through these waters, and so they are also building up their navy," Suthan said on board INS Sukanya, a naval warship at the Kolkata dockyard.

India has air and naval bases and listening posts across the eastern region. It considers the eastern sea routes vital to its security.

Many Indian defence experts believe that China has military or intelligence facilities on Myanmar's Coco Islands, a few miles away from India's Diglipur, 185 km north of Port Blair, capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

"We keep hearing about China's interest in Coco Island and are wary of its growing interest in the region, and we are keeping a close watch," Suthan said.

Although Suthan said he believed China had no facilities on Coco, he said the navy could not let its guard down.

"The naval fleet in east India has long legs and, with the government's emphasis on the look east policy, we are strengthening east now," Suthan added.