Is China About To Establish A Number Of Naval Bases In The Indian Ocean?

Song-class submarines of China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).

Andrew Erickson and Kevin Bond, USNI News: Essay: China’s Island Building Campaign Could Hint Toward Further Expansions in Indian Ocean

China’s creation of military-relevant facilities on its newly-created islands in the South China Sea is a cause for concern for countries in Southeast Asia, and several of its investments in the Indian Ocean are raising more questions over the possibility of China’s first dedicated naval support facility overseas.

As China expands its reach into the Indian Ocean and wraps up construction in Southeast Asia, the same sort of assets that built-up the seven Spratly features that China occupies into artificial islands may decamp for ports in the Indian Ocean, potentially strengthening China’s logistics chain for its naval activities in what its strategists term the Far Seas

WNU Editor: For the past few years China has been active in developing political and diplomatic relationships with a number of states in the Indian Ocean. China also has the funds and resources to enter into agreements with these same nations to modernize and/or build naval ports and facilities.... a prospect that I suspect that many of these countries would accept. My prediction .... this is going to happen sooner rather than later. The 4 countries in the Indian Ocean that are the most likely to permit the presence of Chinese naval forces are Pakistan, the Seychelles, Djibouti, and Sri Lanka.