India on Wednesday opened a new naval base on its Indian Ocean island close to the Maldives, as ties remain tense and New Delhi jostles anew with China for influence in the region.
INS Jatayu, the new base on Minicoy Island, on India's Lakshadweep archipelago, had been under construction for years, and is India's most distant base on its western coast. The navy has had a small presence on the island for decades.
The opening comes just as the Maldives pushes India to start withdrawing its nearly 80 troops who have been stationed there to provide technical and medical assistance on three aircraft given to its southern neighbor nation by India earlier.