China's naval base in the African country of Djibouti has become fully operational. This has been revealed from satellite images released by Maxar Technologies. These photos also showed warships on the base, which Dragon has deployed in the Indian Ocean. China's naval base in Djibouti is its first foreign military base. It has been made for $ 590 million (about Rs 4,697 crore).
The construction is going on here since 2016. After building this naval base, China expanded its power from the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea. The base is located near the strategically important Bab-el-Mandeb Strait. This strait separates the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. Djibouti is a country on the way to one of the busiest shipping routes (Suez Canal).
The political situation in Djibouti is stable compared to other neighboring countries in Africa. Naval base expert HI Sutton told NDTV that the Djibouti base is designed to withstand direct attack.
Ship deployment was seen at the base
Satellite images of Maxar show a Chinese Yuzhao class (Type-071) landing ship. It is docked at a 320-meter-long dockyard. A helicopter landing facility is also available at this dockyard. According to Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha (retd), the base appears to be fully operational. More construction work is likely to be done now.
The size of the Chinese Type-071 landing ship is quite large. It can carry multiple tanks, trucks, and hovercraft with it. Navy expert Sutton said that more powerful ships are joining the Chinese fleet. Based on their size and capacity, it can be said that they are being used for critical logistics, supply, and transport missions.
Yuzhao class ships capable of handling ground-air attacks
The Yuzhao class ships are designed to be the most important warships of the Chinese task force. These ships are also capable of dealing with ground and air attacks. The Chinese Navy has commissioned a total of 8 ships of this category in its fleet in different phases.
The presence of another Chinese ship 'Changbai Shan' has been seen at this base. It is a large 25,000-tonne ship, designed to carry 800 soldiers and vehicles, air-cushioned landing craft, and helicopters. It is believed to have entered the waters of the Indian Ocean this year with a frontline Chinese destroyer.
Djibouti is buried under Chinese debt
Images of the entire Chinese Naval Base in Djibouti have come as China docked the 25,000-tonne satellite and ballistic missile tracking ship Yuan Wang 5 in Sri Lanka's Hambantota port. Because of the threat of espionage, India lodged a protest with Sri Lanka regarding this.
China's presence in both Sri Lanka and Djibouti is linked to its economic investments in both countries under the long-term 'Belt and Road Initiative. Djibouti is also buried under the debt of China. This debt is more than 70% of Djibouti's GDP. At the same time, China has occupied the port of Sri Lanka for 99 years.
China's strategy to increase maritime influence
Former Indian Navy Chief Admiral Arun Prakash told NDTV that India should have no illusions about China's maritime intentions or capabilities. It has been 14 years since he started the Standing Patrol in the African country. Initially, we had doubts that how could China operate such a distant base. But they have shown they can do it. They have kept the ships stationed at the station for 6 to 9 months.
What we are seeing today is part of a well-planned and well-thought-out strategy to increase China's maritime influence. Under this, China has already operated nuclear-powered attack submarines in the Indian Ocean. We can also see a large group of warships in this sea area. Top commanders of the US Navy have also warned about this.
Admiral Harry Harris Jr., the then commander of the US Pacific Command, said in 2017 that no one can stop China from taking a ship to the Indian Ocean today.
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