External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is currently on visit to New York to be the part of the event “Discussion at Council on Foreign Relations” has been raising all the concerns. While speaking at the event, he also made a sharp attack on Canada amid Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.While raising concern over the “steady increase in Chinese naval presence” in the Indian Ocean, he called “to prepare for a far greater presence of Beijing than seen ever before.”Speaking at the Discussion at Council on Foreign Relations in New York, Jaishankar said, “Last 20-25 years, there has been a steady increase in the Chinese naval presence and activity in the Indian Ocean, but there has been a very sharp increase in the size of Chinese naval. When you have a very much bigger navy, that navy is going to be visible in terms of its deployment somewhere.”#WATCH | New York: EAM Dr S Jaishankar says, …Last 20 -25 years, there has been a steady increase in the Chinese naval presence and activity in the Indian Ocean…When you have a very much bigger navy, that navy is going to be visible in terms of its deployment somewhere…In… pic.twitter.com/A4dgtBQaqA— ANI (@ANI) September 26, 2023Jaishankar further said that India have been noticing these developments “very carefully” for any security implications.“In our own case, we have seen Chinese port activity, and buildings, you mentioned Gwadar, there is a port called Hambantota in Sri Lanka. There are a few others. In many cases, I would say looking back, the governments of the day, and the policymakers of the day perhaps underestimated the importance of this and how these ports could work in the future. Each one is quite unique in a way,” Jaishankar said.He added, “We obviously do watch many of them very carefully for any security implications…From an Indian point of view, its very reasonable for us to prepare for a far greater Chinese presence than we have seen before.”#WATCH | New York: EAM Dr S Jaishankar says, …Last 20 -25 years, there has been a steady increase in the Chinese naval presence and activity in the Indian Ocean…When you have a very much bigger navy, that navy is going to be visible in terms of its deployment somewhere…In… pic.twitter.com/A4dgtBQaqA— ANI (@ANI) September 26, 2023Notably, China has been significantly expanding its engagements in the Indian Ocean region over the past three decades.
