India’s Great Nicobar plan near Malacca gains urgency amid Hormuz crisis

The global energy crisis caused by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has added urgency to India's Rs 85,000 crore plan to transform Great Nicobar Island into a major defence and logistics hub near the Strait of Malacca, the South China Morning Post reports. The island, part of the Andaman and Nicobar chain, sits less than 150 km from the western entrance of the Malacca Strait. Supporters of the project argue it would let New Delhi control or disrupt Chinese supply chains and worsen Beijing's 'Malacca dilemma'.

Times Now reports separately that the Hormuz crisis has reinforced the lesson that India's maritime security is inseparable from its economic security. More than 90 per cent of India's trade by volume travels by sea, and over 85 per cent of its crude. The outlet argues geography becomes a decisive advantage only when India has the naval strength to leverage it, and says the expanding presence of rival powers underlines the need for a larger, more capable Indian Navy.

Hormuz alone carried around 40-45 per cent of India's crude before the crisis, while Malacca carries electronics, pharmaceutical ingredients, industrial goods, and coal from Indonesia and Australia. Both outlets agree the vulnerability of these chokepoints poses direct economic risk to India.