Airliners-India.com

karatecatman · Guest

Sent by email

2007

US Marines have been conducting exercises with the Sri Lanka Navy later this month, deploying more than 1,000 personnel and support ships for amphibious and counter-insurgency manoeuvres with the aim of 'containing' growing Chinese presence in the region and to test its latest theories on 'littoral battle' without putting American soldiers at risk.

Military sources said the joint exercises involving the 15 Marine Expeditionary Unit on the beaches in Hambantota in southern Sri Lanka are taking place where the Chinese plan on building oil and harbour facilities that were ravaged by the tsunami two years ago.

'Whilst the manoeuvres will put the Tamil Tigers on notice to engage seriously in the upcoming peace talks in Geneva, the location of the exercise clearly indicates that India too has signed off on the venture as a subtle warning to the Chinese not to unduly intrude upon the Indian Ocean Region (IOR),' Brigadier Arun Sahgal of the United Service Institution of India told IANS.

For Sri Lanka, however, US Marine training in amphibious warfare will equip its navy to counter the Sea Tigers, the world's only insurgent force with an aggressively operational naval wing that deploys custom-built boats which were launched in a suicide attack on the southern port of Galle Oct 18.

The US and India, however, have long eyed with trepidation China's 'string of pearls' strategy in the IOR of clinching regional defence and security agreements to secure its mounting energy requirements, enhance its military profile from the Persian Gulf to the South China Sea and significantly expand its presence and visibility in the area.

Meeting with senior Indian military officials including the three Service Chiefs in New Delhi earlier this week, US Pacific Commander Admiral William J. Fallon conceded as much when he expressed concern over Beijing's military build up in the region.

But India and the US have frequently reiterated that their new-found strategic partnership is not aimed at countervailing China's proliferating military, especially naval expansion.

But Indian defence planners disagree.

They also claim that though India exercises limited influence in the region, it remains the dominant, albeit 'hesitant', naval power and consequently has been 'anointed' Washington's junior partner in the IOR.

The US along with other members of the Sri Lankan Donors Group, which assist with the country's post-tsunami rebuilding and in brokering peace talks between the government and the separatist Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE), have been known to frequently consult with India on Colombo-related security matters.

Washington has also long harboured a strategic interest in Sri Lanka, centred around eastern Trincomalee port, which it looks upon as a staging point for its naval assets stationed in and around its Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean.

And to gain access to the 'strategic jewel' that is Trincomalee, one of the world's biggest natural deep-sea harbours, the US has 'persuaded' India to step in as Washington's 'proxy' to extend its influence over the port without overtly arousing suspicion of superpower hegemony. Located on the busy East-West shipping route stretching from the Suez Canal to the Malacca Straits, Trincomalee controls the Indian Ocean.

Earlier, through a combination of diplomacy, bullying and astute bargaining, a paranoid India had for several decades managed to prevent outside powers - especially the US - from gaining access to Trincomalee.

During the Cold war years, the US had wanted to station a Voice of America transmitter in Sri Lanka as a precursor to using its warships using the harbour. But close Soviet-ally India steadfastly opposed any such move.

One of the key clauses of the 1987 accord that led to the deployment of the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka to disarm the Tamil Tigers declared that Trincomalee - particularly its oil tanks, located around 20 km from the Indian coast - would not be controlled by any foreign power 'inimical' to India.

But after 9/11 things changed and even more so recently with India and the US strategically and militarily coming closer.

The US has acknowledged the Indian Navy as a 'stabilizing force' in IOR and wants a closer working relationship with it that includes arrangements to patrol the sea-lanes from the North Arabian Sea to the Malacca Straits off the Singapore coast.

Consequently, in a quiet, 35-year deal clinched with Sri Lanka - with US approval - the state-owned Indian Oil Corp (IOC) hammered out a Rs.200 million ($4.16 million) agreement in 2002 to refurbish the voluminous oil tanks at Trincomalee for the first time after World War II when British warships used it for refuelling.

Providing the entire operation protection at Trincomalee are US-trained Sri Lankan soldiers. Under Operation Balanced Style US, Sea Air Land Forces (SEALS) specialists have trained Sri Lankan army and navy personnel in security techniques to protect Trincomalee. Sri Lankan police teams have also attended anti-terrorism courses in the US with emphasis on bomb disposal and US military cooperation has also been quietly extended to the island's air force that operates a wide range of Israeli-made combat aircraft.

It is well known that the US Navy has long been looking for access to a strategically located South Asian port for its Fifth Fleet, established in 1996 for permanent deployment in the Indian Ocean to bolster the US Middle East Force, increasing in tactical and strategic importance after the Iraq invasion.

US missile strikes during the war in Afghanistan were executed, amongst others, by Fifth Fleet warships, clearly demonstrating America's ability to exercise military power against littoral states deep inland.

'With the US now India's most coveted ally, New Delhi is unlikely to object to Washington neatly tying up various strategic bonds to fully dominate the Asian region,' a senior Indian security officer said. In turn, India hopes to profit from its growing military relations with the US, he added.

karatecatman · Guest

Indian Navy to station spy drones in Kochi

Times of India, 23 December 2005
" India's maritime snooping capabilities are all set to get a boost, with the Navy now ready to operationally deploy its first-ever squadron of Israeli UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) or spy drones. The Navy's first UAV squadron, with eight Searcher-II and four Heron UAVs, which can transmit imagery in real-time to their ground control stations by day as well as night, will be formally commissioned at Kochi by Navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash on January 6. "

karatecatman · Guest

Delhi all ears in the Indian Ocean
Sudha Ramachandran in Asia Times, 3 March 2006

"India is reportedly planning to set up a high-tech monitoring station in northern Madagascar to tackle piracy and terrorism, while keeping an eye on China and the sea lanes that are so critical to Delhi's economy and security. It would be the first such facility New Delhi has opened in another country.. India will pay US$2.5 million to lease the station, because it apprehends threats to its strategic naval assets and its political, economic and military interests in Africa," the online Public Affairs Magazine reported. "The monitoring station will have high-tech digital communication systems." The monitoring station is in tune with Indian maritime doctrine that envisages an ambient forward naval presence from the Strait of Hormuz to the Strait of Malacca. Madagascar is in a rough neighborhood. To the north is civil-war-racked Somalia, which hasn't had a functioning central government for more than a decade."

karatecatman · Guest

International balance of power in Lanka

These are the list of players on LANKAN soil and whO Lanka attempts to manipulate from time to time:

The plight of the Lankan Tamils remains secondary:

INDIA
Indian Oil Corp begins operations in Sri Lanka
[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 May 2003]
Indian petroleum minister Mr. Ram Naik, who arrived on a two-day visit to Sri Lanka, inaugurated the Indian Oil Corporation's operations in the island’s petrol and diesel retail market Wednesday. Mr. Naik launched Lanka IOC (Pvt) Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of IOC, with the inauguration of a petrol station in Colombo Wednesday as part of a chain of 250 retail outlets the state oil firm is taking over in the island nation. He will visit Trincomalee on Thursday, Sri Lankan government officials said.

The Lanka Indian Oil Corporation would upgrade the acquired petrol stations to international standards by providing value added services like ATM, convenio stores, automatic car wash and food marts.

LIOC will invest about 4 billion Sri Lankan rupees in this venture, sources said.

“India and Sri Lanka are set to move closer in the crucial area of energy security, with plans on to build an oil pipeline linking the two neighbours. The proposal, still in its early stages, is to develop an offshoot from the proposed pipeline between Chennai and Madurai to reach Colombo”, M. Nageswaran, managing director of the Lanka IOC (LIOC), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Indian Oil (IOC) was quoted as saying in the Indian press.

“The pipeline proposal is a significant to the energy security of the island. A net importer of petroleum products, Sri Lanka has already agreed to lease its Oil Tank Farm in eastern Trincomalee to be operated by the LIOC. The tie-up in the petroleum sector is also a pointer to the changing nature of bilateral relations, with a greater emphasis on furthering economic links”, a Sri Lankan government official said.

The World War II vintage Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm, with 99 tanks, each with a capacity of 12,250 kilolitres, was considered to be of strategic importance even during the decades of the Cold War. However, with the changing geopolitics and rapid advances in military hardware, its strategic significance may not be the same as it was in earlier decades; but its continued importance for the island and the region cannot be underestimated. Moreover, the heavy correlation between energy and international affairs adds to the importance of the IOC's role in Sri Lanka in bilateral relations.

For Sri Lanka, the Indian presence in Trincomalee is seen as a part of its international safety net in its present peace process with the Tigers. The Government, however, has maintained that it was a commercial decision. The leasing of the farm is an extension of the 1987 Indo-Sri Lanka Accord under which the two Governments agreed that the "work of restoring and operating the Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm would be undertaken as a joint venture between India and Sri Lanka.''

Currently only 15 of the 99 tanks are operational. The LIOC "plans to develop the China Bay Tankages (in eastern Sri Lanka) on a need basis as the volume of operations in Sri Lanka grow.''

In addition to the Trincomalee Oil Farm, the IOC's involvement in the island's energy sector will be in two terminals under construction at Muthurajawela and Katunayake International Airport, through a joint venture with the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation.

The LIOC is set to enter retail business in Sri Lanka and would initially take over 100 petrol stations in the island. This would be followed by another 150 petrol stations in the second phase.

Compared to the 9,423 retail petrol outlets run by the IOC in India, Sri Lanka has 1,064 petrol stations. Colombo, the island's largest city, has 48 outlets, of which 13 will be operated by the LIOC in the first phase.

In addition to the IOC's initial investment of $62 million for the first phase, $38 million would be invested in the second phase, making it one of the largest Indian investments in the island.

In its retail business, the LIOC would provide the entire range of petroleum products, including Aviation Fuel, LPG and all grades of lubricants and fuel, Sri Lankan government officials said.

On 11 June 2002, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., and Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) New Delhi. Mr. M.S Ramachandran, Chairman, IndianOil and Mr.Daham Wimalasena, Chairman, CPC, signed the MoU on behalf of IndianOil and CPC respectively. IndianOil is the largest National Oil Company in the Asia Pacific region. Ceylon Petroleum Corporation is the National Oil Company of Sri Lanka and is the only Oil Company in the island nation.

According to the MoU, CPC will divest 100 CPC-owned Retail Outlets in favour of IndianOil and will assist IndianOil to re-assign the franchise outlets. Indian Oil will modernize and provide additional services through these retail outlets. For development and better operating efficiency of petroleum terminals, storage depots including aviation fuelling facilities and other infrastructure in Sri Lanka, both IndianOil and CPC agreed to operate and use the total existing and future downstream infrastructure on a common user principle basis. Besides, IndianOil will take over the Trincomalee tank farm on long-term lease, according to the MOU.

CHINA

S.Lanka Coal Plant a Go as China Inks $450 Mln Loan
16-Mar-06
Country: SRI LANKA
Author: Ranga Sirilal

The Chinese loan, agreed in principle in August and signed on Wednesday by visiting State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan, will fund the first phase of the Norochcholai plant in northwest Sri Lanka, which is set to add an initial 300 MW of power to the national grid by the end of 2010.

Pummelled by high international oil prices, Sri Lanka -- which produces no crude of its own -- is scrambling to reduce its dependence on oil and cut energy costs via hydropower and coal power projects.

The Norochcholai project was delayed for years by opposition from environmental groups, which the government says has now been overcome, and is expected to reach full capacity by 2012.

"This coal power project will have a positive impact on Sri Lanka's economy, as it will bring down the cost of electricity and also will boost investment in Sri Lanka by enabling us to offer electricity at cheaper rates," Treasury Secretary P.B. Jayasundara told reporters.

The 20-year Chinese loan charges 2.0 percent annual interest and comes with a 5-year grace period.

Cyclical droughts that dried up reservoirs and hit hydropower generation have forced companies to rely on expensive-to-run diesel generators, and Sri Lanka is desperate to find ways to bring down energy costs that have put pressure on the island's balance of payments.

The state-run Ceylon Electricity Board is accruing huge losses because the government subsidises electricity to the public.

"The (Ceylon) Electricity Board makes a loss of 40 million rupees ($390,000) per day," said Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Deputy Minister of Power and Energy, forecasting the new plant would enable the board to slash per unit production costs, which are now about 50 percent higher than sales revenues.

The government is also hoping to build new coal plants in the eastern district of Trincomalee and another in the southeastern district of Hambantota.

Sri Lanka gets about a third of its electricity from hydropower and the rest from diesel or fuel oil-fired power stations, and costs have soared in tandem with international oil prices, prompting it to turn to coal as a cheaper alternative.

***

Mr. Wen proposed to upgrade Sino-Sri Lankan relations to an "all-round cooperative partnership" when he visited Colombo last year. In the aftermath of the devastating tsunami in December 2004, China committed $19 million to the reconstruction of six fishing harbours. During his visit. the Premier pledged an additional $8.7 million to the tsunami-afflicted country in the spirit of "being a good neighbour and a good partner." China has further offered a preferential buyers' credit scheme for development projects. Currently several such projects are under way in Sri Lanka with Chinese financing and assistance, including the Hambantota Bunkering System, the Puttalam Coal Power Project, and the rail link between Katunayake and Ratmalana...That China was able to gain observer status at the SAARC summit in Dhaka in November 2005 as a result of pressure from Nepal, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, despite Indian reluctance, shows how far its influence is spreading in the region. "

***
China's Submarine Base in Maldives

"China may have clinched a deal with the Maldives to build a naval facility capable of hosting submarines on the island of Marao, 40 km from the capital Male. According to an Israeli defence source, the deal may have been signed and sealed in May 2005 during Premier Zhu-Rongji's visit to Male. It will allow China to lease the island for 25 years and develop it, which means jobs for the locals. Pakistan apparently, was instrumental in 'persuading' the Maldives to lease the island to the Chinese. The island will be operational in 2010. It's not clear how India, given its excellent relations with the Maldives, allowed this deal to go through."

" China's big worry is the extended lease of the US's Diego Garcia base, and American moves to deploy submarines in the Malacca Strait despite Malaysia and Indonesia's refusal to give permission in February, and the certain presence of at least two US submarines in the Taiwan Strait to defend Taiwan against China."

"Marao is one of the largest of the 1192 coral islands grouped into atolls that comprise Maldives and lies 40 km south of Male, the capital. Coral islands make fine submarine pens. The Peoples' Liberation Army Navy or PLAN proposes to deploy nuclear submarines fitted with sea-launched Dong Feng-44 missiles and ballistic missiles (SLBMs) in Marao. "