China’s facility is so advanced that apart from tracking Indian satellites, it can also “blind” them
India is setting up a satellite tracking and data reception centre in the neighbouring Himalayan state of Bhutan, The Economic Times has reported.
The under-construction ground station of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is intended to help the Himalayan state take advantage of the South Asia Satellite, but it would also help the country to counter a similar facility of China in the region, the report has suggested.
China has set up an advanced satellite tracking centre and astronomical observatory about 125 kilometres from the Line of Actual Control, the official border between India and China at Ngari in the Tibet Autonomous Region. According to the report, the centre is so advanced that apart from tracking Indian satellites, it can also “blind” them.
The development of the ground station is believed to have significant ramifications, especially after the Doklam stand-off. In 2017, China had attempted to construct a road at a tri-junction between India, China, and Bhutan, which had led to a 72-day face-off between the Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army at Doklam.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had mentioned the ground station in his media statement on December 28, 2018. PM Modi, after meeting the new Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering, said that the station would be completed soon. This, he added, will assist in giving messages related to weather in far-flung areas of Bhutan, facilitate tele-medicines and help in disaster relief.
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