BOOK RELEASE – Strategic Vision – 2030: Security and Development of Andaman & Nicobar Islands 
Dear friends,
It gives me great pleasure to inform you that my book co-authored with Air Marshal PK Roy on “Strategic Vision – 2030: Security and Development of Andaman & Nicobar Islands has just been released at Delhi based military think tank United Services Institute (USI) and is available on Amazon. http://www.amazon.in/Strategic-Vision-2030-Security-Development/dp/9386457180/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1498555301&sr=1-1&keywords=books+strategic+vision+2030
Warm regards,
Commodore Aspi Cawasji NM, VSM (Retd)
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Andaman & Nicobar Islands located over 1200 km to India’s East are nature’s bounty inherited by us during the process of our Independence. Located on the strategic Sea Lines of Communication connecting the Indian Ocean to the Asia-Pacific region and sitting at the entrance of the Malacca Straits, they provide India with strategic reach and could act as a launch pad in the geographical vicinity of South-East Asia. After prolonged neglect, the significance of these Islands is slowly dawning in Indian strategic calculations. Establishment of the first and the only operational Unified Andaman & Nicobar Command, controlling the assets of the Army, Navy, Air Force and the Coast Guard, is testimony to their growing strategic importance.
The islands have also faced a threat from unbridled and unplanned mismanagement of its ecological environment besides suffering a constant onslaught of illegal immigration, drug trafficking and marine poaching. It is therefore imperative that the natural strengths of these islands must remain the bedrock of developmental policies and strategies. The ecological richness and fragility, along with the strategic location of these islands demand adoption of a different approach towards their development instead of merely superimposing the mainland’s developmental policies. Whilst fast-tracking the pace of development, we need to be cautious that we do not damage the ecological and cultural heritage of these Islands.
Air Marshal PK Roy, with his background as the former Commander-in-Chief of Andaman and Nicobar Command and the Commandant of National Defence College of India and his associate research scholar Commodore Aspi Cawasji with his maritime domain expertise and his extensive experience in the Indian Ocean Region and on-ground knowledge of the islands have complemented each other’s capabilities in enriching the quality of research work. In this context, the book Strategic Vision – 2030: Security and Development of Andaman & Nicobar Islands has lucidly set out a way ahead and provided a set of policy recommendations for strategic development of these Islands.
The nuanced views of the research scholars on issues of geopolitical reality of the 21st century, the importance of these islands, and the contribution that these islands could make to the security of mainland India have been articulated transcendentally. The research initially provides an insight into the present global strategic environment focusing specially on the Indian Ocean Region, the Chinese ‘String of Pearls’ strategy as well as China’s ‘Malacca Dilemma’. It further brings out the strengths of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, their strategic significance and recommends a way ahead for their development. It finally suggests a set of comprehensive set of policy recommendations to be adopted by the government.
In what is viewed as the century of the Indo-Pacific region, strategic development of these islands could place India in a position to dominate this choke point of one of the busiest global sea lanes, or if need be, it places India in an advantageous position to exercise the possibility to disrupt the primary energy security artery of China and the entire Indo-Pacific region.
