The Strategic Significance of Andaman and Nicobar Islands: Assessing Anti-Access Area Denial Potential in the Bay of Bengal

Abstract

The Indian Navy's growing share of military budget over the previous decade, as well as its focus on technology and enhanced Maritime Domain Awareness in the region, have all reflected in its eastern maritime outlook with the Bay of Bengal as a strategic space. Given the severe resource constraints that have resulted in a slow pace of naval modernization, India must prioritize and work to utilize the strategic advantage offered by Andaman and Nicobar Islands. By developing the Andaman and Nicobar Islands into a strategic hub for power projection in the Bay of Bengal and the larger Indian Ocean, the Indian Navy could extend its strategic outreach across the Strait of Malacca and keep an eye on the surface and subsurface vessels transiting that area. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are crucial levers in India's dealings with China, and they may allow India to use the Chinese variant of AA/AD strategy against it.