About a year ago, people on a strategic group of islands in India that are closer to Singapore than to New Delhi saw something strange in the sky: a giant balloon like the one the US shot down earlier this month.
At the time, no one knew exactly what it was. India’s defence establishment became anxious as hundreds of citizens in the Andaman and Nicobar islands walked outside and photographed an unidentified flying object that lit up social media.
The islands are adjacent to India’s missile testing grounds in the Bay of Bengal and are located near the Malacca Strait, a vital chokepoint for energy and other items destined for China and other North Asian states.
Now, as a result of the United States shooting down a balloon that it believed was part of Chinese spying, Indian officials are reviewing the situation and drafting processes to enhance their ability to recognise similar threats and respond more promptly in the future, according to officials.
In contrast to the United States, which employed an expensive Aim-9X Sidewinder missile to shoot down the alleged Chinese surveillance balloon, India prefers less expensive options such as fighter jets or heavy machine guns attached to transport aircraft, according to the officials.
Several individuals with knowledge of the incident stated last week that the object unexpectedly materialised above the island group after evading numerous Indian radar systems en route. Before authorities could determine the origin of the balloon and decide whether to bring it down, the object reportedly drifted southwest into the ocean.
Officials from India were unwilling to speculate on the origin of the balloon. The administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is hosting the Group of 20 meetings this year, and is attempting to make headway on priorities such as reducing the debt burden of poor nations without inflaming diplomatic tensions.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the navy, and the air force of India did not immediately respond to calls requesting comment.
The US-China balloon dispute halted a mini-thaw between the world’s two largest economies following the November meeting between Vice President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Beijing asserted that the object was a weather-gathering aircraft and accused the United States of overreacting by sending a fighter plane to shoot it down.
The United States is currently analysing wreckage retrieved by divers off the coast of South Carolina. It has stated that the balloon is part of a monitoring programme China has conducted for years and that similar planes have been deployed worldwide.
According to the people, images obtained by high-altitude, slow-moving balloons could supplement satellite photos and aid in a better knowledge of the geography, communication systems in use, and soil quality of the regions.
