It seems China is again marking space for itself in Coco Islands of Myanmar. After the recent visit of senior Chinese naval officers to improve facilities at the islands, India is up and alert all of a sudden. On June 25, in a secret visit, a Chinese naval delegation led by Col Chi Ziong Feng and a Myanmarese delegation led by Brig Gen Win Shein went to the Coco Islands. As revealed by the sources, Brig Gen Shein is the commander of Ayeyarwaddy (Irrawaddy) naval headquarters that manages the island. It is said that China has decided to help Myanmar for upgrading systems on the island.

 

Myanmar would add to its naval troop strength, whereas China would help in constructing two more helipads and storage systems for arms on the island. What actually caused interest to India was that China seemingly approved to “upgrade” communication services on the island. Coincidentally, this happened around the same time when Indian Minister of state for power, Jairam Ramesh, was in Myanmar to reinforce the presence of India there by signing four economic cooperation contracts with the Government of Myanmar.