INDIA’S SOUTHERN SEA FRONTS : THE WAY FORWARD
1st section
All that India has spent on the Maldives
Since 1965 hath been a waste.
The ingredients, the signs were always there :
It was a mistake to have expect’d otherwise.
2nd
Massive amounts have been wast’d,
Squander’d, pointlessly dish’d out.
The Chinese have better sense :
They have got their acts correctly :
They be clear-mind’d.
3rd
They do spend a lot on foreign countries,
But, they do know a lost cause
When they see one…
4th
Saudi Arabia and the UAE
Be moving in.
‘Tis not a coincidence :
‘Twas to be expect’d :
Just as the response
From the Maldives to these moves…
5th
In the archipelago,
Just on one bridge connecting three islands,
India spent more than 41 billion rupees :
An utter waste, whichever way one looks at it…
Many more billions wast’d mindlessly
On other projects.
6th
Will there be a change ?...
Will commonsense prevail at last ?...
How many more billions need to be lost
Before one accepts the inevitable ?...
*****
7th
The Chinese are smarter,
They see farther ahead,
They keep both feet on the ground,
They don’t fight lost causes,
They have got their strategies right.
8th
They build artificial islands,
They turn reefs into islands,
They understand force projection,
They lay down the groundwork
For military and strategic successes
In future maritime confrontations…
*****
9th
India should learn from these down-to-earth
Strategies, tactics and postures.
Anything she spends on the Maldives
Be an utter waste.
10th
India should think out of the box,
Should go for innovative moves,
Should pre-empt moves of adversaries.
11th
An Indian island should be identified
For force projection
And military installations
For decisive responses in future conflicts
Across the southern seas.
12th
The whole island population
Needs to be relocat’d to another island,
With resettlement in a new, free housing estate.
13th
The vacat’d island needs to be turn’d
Into a military bastion,
Augment’d physically, Chinese-style,
With jetties and piers set up.
There should be facilities
For ship and submarine resupplies,
Radar installations,
Communications infrastructure,
Communications intercept stations,
Logistics for space assets,
Missile batteries :
Hardware for forward military responses.
*****
14th
Let the Maldives go the way they wish :
They are history :
It’s a question of time
Before they be submerg’d :
All that is spent there will be lost…
15th
For India, pragmatism should rule;
India should move fast right now
And finally get her acts together,
As requir’d by commonsense…
16th and last
Let other actors move into the void :
India will have the means to respond
Rapidly, decisively…
Indian money and resources
Need to be better spent :
Indian military strategies
On the southern fronts
Need to be ground’d
In commonsense…
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Soman Ragavan
Mauritius (Indian Ocean)
12 January, 2024
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