India affirms its role in the Indian Ocean | Fusion - WeRIndia

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ended a 5 day tour of 3 Indian Ocean island nations – Mauritius, Seychelles and Sri Lanka that began on the eleventh of March. The tour is being seen as an effort by India to reconnect with these countries after years of neglect.

Here are some military interventions by India:

In 1983, India nearly militarily intervened in Mauritius. “Operation Lal Dora” was approved by the then Prime Minister statesman for a secret landing of Indian troops in Mauritius. These troops were to assist the Mauritian Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth fight down a challenge from his radical rival Paul Berenger that India feared would possibly take the form of an attempted coup. The mission was aborted in favour of an operation led by India’s external intelligence research and Analysis Wing (RAW) which was successful.

In June 1986, Bharat below “Operation Flowers are Blooming” deployed INS Vindhyagiri at the Seychelles Port of Victoria to abort a coup attempt against President Rene. Bharat once more helped avert another coup in September of 1986 when Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi lent President Rene his plane to fly back to Seychelles from Salisbury where he was attending an international meeting.

In 1988, under “Operation Cactus”, Bharat swiftly put down a coup attempt by Tamil mercenaries within the Maldives. Bharat landed troops in hours once appeal from the then President of Maldives Mr. Maamoom Abdul Gayoom, that quickly secured all the important installations within the Maldives.

Image Reference: Indianexpress