Military presence in Lakshadweep to go up with new naval detachment on Bitra: Vice Admiral Sameer Saxena

In the near future, military presence on the Lakshadweep islands is expected to go up considerably with both the Navy and the Air Force pushing ahead with expansion plans in the strategically-located archipelago.

A new naval detachment is expected to be fully operational by next year on Bitra island, according to the Southern Naval Command (SNC). The Air Force is already working on expanding its own facility at Agatti and building a new air base on Minicoy.

“We look forward to greater infrastructure development in the Lakshadweep Islands. Of course, it is a fragile ecosystem and we want to be very careful how we develop it,” Vice Admiral Sameer Saxena, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C), SNC, said in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday (December 2, 2025).

The naval presence on Lakshadweep will happen “in a measured way,” he said. The new naval detachment on Bitra island is more or less completed and the Navy already has manpower positioned there, Rear Admiral Upal Kundu, Chief of Staff, SNC, said. “By next year, it will be fully functional,” he said.  

Strategic significance

Increased shipping traffic in the sea-lanes, Chinese interest in the Indian Ocean Region and the threat of Arabian Sea piracy increases the strategic significance of the Lakshadweep Islands from a security perspective. According to Vice Admiral Saxena, in the last one year alone, the Navy deployed more than 35 ships and conducted more than 1,000 boarding operations in response to shipping attacks and incidence of piracy in the western Arabian Sea. “The swift action by the Navy has saved the lives of more than 520 people from various nations,” he said.

On Minicoy, the Navy already has the INS Jatayu naval base and the INS Dweeprakshak base on Kavaratti. On the Air Force plans for Lakshadweep, Vice Admiral Saxena pointed out that in future, “all assets are joint,” referring to increasing synergy among the forces.

In the emerging Indian Ocean scenario, the Air Force views the Lakshadweep Islands, as well as the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the east, as good “stepping stones” for military and surveillance operations.  

Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari, Vice Chief of the Air Staff, who was in Thiruvananthapuram in October this year, had described the Lakshadweep Islands as “our frontier posts,” stating that their continued development assumes relevance in the current geopolitical climate. The Air Force is expanding the existing air field to accommodate bigger aircraft in Agatti and a new air base on Minicoy.

In the coming years, the Air Force also hopes to have long-range cargo drones capable of carrying heavy payloads play a vital role in its expansion plans in Lakshadweep.