COCOS
ISLAND – GEOGRAPHY
News:
Two Indian military
aircraft visit Australia's strategic Cocos Islands
What's
in the news?
● An
Indian Navy Dornier maritime patrol aircraft and an Indian Air Force (IAF)
C-130 transport aircraft visited Australia’s Cocos (Keeling) Islands (CKI).
Key
takeaways:
● The
move aims to expand the strategic reach
of the Indian military and improve interoperability with Australia.
● India’s
access to CKI as well as Christmas Island, which is even closer to the
strategic choke points, would significantly enhance the on-station time of the
Indian Navy’s P-8Is to monitor movements into the Indian Ocean.
Cocos
(Keeling) Islands (CKI):
● The
island is located in the Southern Indian
Ocean, close to Indonesia and strategic maritime choke points.
● The
CKI is an Australian external territory located in the Indian Ocean,
approximately 3,000 km north-west of Perth in western Australia.
● The
island comprises two coral atolls
made up of 27 smaller islands.
Significance
for India:
● Cocos
can be an important base for refuelling
and Operational Turnaround for the Indian military, especially once the
runway there is expanded to accommodate large aircraft like the P-8 long range
maritime patrol aircraft.
● Cocos
Islands had been a point of cooperation between the space agencies of the two
countries for India’s Gaganyaan human space flight mission.
● Australia’s
active support in establishing a temporary ground station at CKI for the
Gaganyaan missions offers potential opportunities for cooperation in earth
observation, satellite navigation, space situational awareness, weather and
climate studies using satellite data.