Sikkim standoff: Rukmini helps India keep a tab on Chinese ships in the Indian Ocean Region

Amid the ongoing Sikkim standoff, the Indian Navy is using ‘Rukmini’— a GSAT-7 military satellite launched in September 2013 — to keep an eye on China.

This multi-band military communication satellite can help to keep a tab on Chinese submarines in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and also can minimise reliance on foreign satellites for intel, the Economic Times said.

With a 2,000 nautical mile footprint, this satellite provides real-time inputs to warships, submarines and maritime aircraft, the report said.

In view of the assertive stance adopted by China, this eye from the sky from the Indian perspective is extremely critical as Beijing is trying to improve its presence and surveillance in the IOR to assert its influence in the region.

Just days after the standoff was called, China had rolled out its ‘most advanced and largest warship in Asia’, The Financial Express reported.

It also states that Rukmini has shown that China’s interference in the region has increased since the standoff but several reports have denied any links to the tensions at Sikkim.

Rukmini enables India to cover activities going from the Malacca Straits in the east to the Hormuz Strait in the west, a report from the Indian Express explained.

Apart from that, it can also survey the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, making 70 percent of the IOR under its purview, the Times of India reported.

Though it is a satellite exclusively dedicated to the Indian Navy, it sends data for over-the-land movements to the Indian Army too, the Times of India report said.