INDIA HAS STRENGTHENED ITS CONTROL OF THE INDIAN OCEAN WITH SEVEN NAVAL DEPLOYMENTS TO COUNTER CHINA. “We have the Indian Ocean covered,” a top officer overseeing the deployments told The Sunday Standard/The New Indian Express this week. “From GULFDEP to MALDEP, we can see every Chinese vessel, most certainly,” he said.:

Roilo: INDIA HAS STRENGTHENED ITS CONTROL OF THE INDIAN OCEAN WITH SEVEN NAVAL DEPLOYMENTS TO COUNTER CHINA. “We have the Indian Ocean covered,” a top officer overseeing the deployments told The Sunday Standard/The New Indian Express this week. “From GULFDEP to MALDEP, we can see every Chinese vessel, most certainly,” he said.:

The seven deployments are:

MALDEP: An IN ship is permanently sailing near the mouths of the Straits of Malacca (Roilo: This is China's nightmare, their Malacca dilemma where their oil trade can be blockaded and this is easy)

NORDEP: patrolling of the North Bay of Bengal, in waters north of the Andamans and the coasts of Bangladesh and Myanmar (Roilo: The Andamans and rest of area also critical in interdicting China's trade in the Indian Ocean)

ANDEP: patrolling between the North Andamans and South Nicobar (Roilo: Same apparent objective, blockade China's trade in case of conflict)

GULFDEP: patrolling of the North Arabian Sea and the approaches to the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf (Roilo: Very obvious objective is to blockade in case of conflict China's oil trade from the very source, the Persian Gulf)

POGDEP: anti-piracy patrolling of the Gulf of Aden, the oldest of the missions

CENDEP: patrolling in waters south of India, off the Maldives and Sri Lanka (Roilo: To neutralize China's inroads in the Maldives and Sri Lanka)

IODEP: patrolling in the South Indian Ocean, off Mauritius, the Seychelles and Madagascar.

In addition to these deployments, Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance (LRMR) aircraft – the Boeing-made Poseidon 8i planes – are tasked with flying sorties, sometimes up to the South China Sea, almost every day, from INS Rajali in Arakonnam, Tamil Nadu. (Roilo: The P-8 Poseidons are deadly submarine hunters as well as to search for surface ship

Over the months since the MDP, the acronyms that began as colloquialisms have become part of navy jargon.

“We have the Indian Ocean covered,” a top officer overseeing the deployments told The Sunday Standard/The New Indian Express this week. “From GULFDEP to MALDEP, we can see every Chinese vessel, most certainly,” he said.