This e-Note outlines India’s efforts to establish military bases on Assumption and Agalega Islands, remotely located off the East African coast. While, in Assumption’s case, progress has stagnated, India successfully expanded the infrastructure on the Agalega Islands, notably by constructing an airstrip suitable for operating long-range P-8I Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. Nevertheless, this mixed success improves India’s capabilities to project its power. This e-Note also argues that, while countering Chinese influence played a factor in India’s decision to set up military outposts in the region, its primary concern is to protect its maritime trade against low-intensity threats like piracy, as India imports several valuable mineral resources from Southeastern Africa.
Download the e-Note 70Research lines: Indo-Pacific; Sahel and Sub-Saharan Africa
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e-Note 70
India’s Military Bases off the East African Coast: Between Ambitions and Reality