By Atul Aneja
New Delhi, May 19: China is digging in Africa with an eye on setting up military bases both along the Indian Ocean in the east and the Atlantic in the west.
China has already established its first military base in Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa close to strategic sea lanes that radiate from here in multiple directions towards Asia and Europe.
But a senior US military commander told Associated Press in an interview that China is now also scouting for another base along Africa's Atlantic Ocean coastline in the west, with an eye on the US.
Gen. Stephen Townsend, head of the US Africa command said that in its search for a naval base, China has approached several countries stretching from Mauritania to south of Namibia.
Other military sources told AP that Beijing is also on the lookout for a naval base in the Gulf of Guinea.
Townsend said Beijing was looking to establish a large navy port that could host submarines or aircraft carriers along Africa's western coast.
"They're looking for a place where they can rearm and repair warships. That becomes militarily useful in conflict," he observed.
The General said that the Atlantic coast concerned him greatly, because of its proximity to the US west coast. In nautical miles, a base on Africa's northern Atlantic coast could be substantially closer to the US than Chinese military facilities at home in the Pacific.
But Washington's other partners in the Indo-pacific QUAD
Source: IANS
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