European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 22, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Garcia doily Magazine new strategic atoll in the Indian Ocean by David Andelman new York times he Navy is rustling to Complete the first air and naval facility in the Indian Ocean on the Coral Island of Diego 400 Miles South of i the but even As work continues on the which will contain a communications station and naval Docking and resupply the United states and the soviet Union Are moving toward negotiations on demilitarization of the Indian Ocean and the bargaining May decide the Fate of the installation on the British Island and the larger soviet naval base in development of the base began six years ago an foot runway has been fuel storage tanks have been built and satellite and radio communications sys tems Are already in there is a sprawling deep water Anchorage capable of handling the giant aircraft carriers that will soon begin Docking and a supplying themselves for their patrols in the Indian but from the extensive it is Clear that there is much More to earthmoving equipment is operating 20 hours a the construction Crews Are filling swamps and Clearing Coral for a Extension of the runway and expanding the parking area for the Mili tary jets that arrive and depart five Miles Down the single hard surface known As Diego Garcia route past the Broad Coral beaches and the deep other naval construction Crews Are laying the foundations of the huge Oil tank farm that will store the barrels of Jet fuel for the planes and ships of the naval task groups that Are expected to begin calling there regularly within two it has been less than 10 Yean since the first major soviet naval task Force steamed into the Indian iter ring interest in the area on the part of the major naval six Yean the last of the 350 local worker on the is lands copra plantations were shipped More that Miles from Diego Garcia to the Island of Mauritius and the first construction units established a beachhead on Diego Garcias Western work on the base has proceeded at a quickening Pace since then and now the installation has begun to figure in disarmament diploma president Carter has proposed that the Indian Ocean be completely demilitarized and soviet president Nikolai Podgomy indicated that his country was willing to open negotiations on the suggesting that the Diego Garcia base would be a key Point in the some government experts believe the Indian Ocean question May affect the direction of the disarmament discussions that were broken off last military officers and defense analysts say that even when the Diego Garcia base is at a Cost of it will still not begin to approach us soviet rival the air and naval facility at Barbera in the East african Republic of no one on Diego Garcia really likes to talk about the soviet naval the base Philip smiled and remarked that he had read about soviet ships passing but soviet warships regularly pass within a Hundred Miles or perhaps even patrolling the sea lanes on which Oil is carried from the Middle East to Japan and the rest of Asia and presumably monitoring military the soviet ships tie up regularly at Deepwater even within the British controlled Chagos of which Diego Garcia is the Only inhabited though carefully outside the 12mile territorial even when the Diego Garcia base is fully opera there win still be fewer that men permanently stationed there Hall the complement of the soviet base at military officials say there will be no support facilities for surface surface and  missiles and no ship repair facilities on Diego it is believed that such instal lations Are available at civilian and military officials appear to believe that development of the Diego Garcia base will not expand the arms race in the Indian Carter administration officials add that the soviet Union should not View it As a threat that would require a it is unclear whether the soviet Union the nations bordering on the Indian see it the same each year since the Indian Ocean countries have asked that the area be declared a zone of from the peaceful Coral Lagoon facing West across the Indian Ocean and the narrow paved Airstrip with three cargo planes sitting idly along the apron that fades off into the Coconut its hard to visualize the intense Sovie America air and naval Competition that shaping up Over Diego Garcia and the United states base on the tiny around the rim of the two dozen countries Are watching the strategic forces that seem to be providing a growing menace to their own Security and to the shipping of the world that passes the Indian Long ignored As a Backwater Lake of the underdeveloped is suddenly emerging As one of the worlds crucial each nearly 50 per cent of the worlds Petroleum passes through the huge supertanker Are bound for Japan with 85 per cent of that country crude Oil re in addition there Are bulk freighters for Southeast Asia and and russian ships for the soviet unions far Eastern but dominating these sea lanes Are the visiting Carrier task groups of the United states and the permanent soviet Indian Ocean Fleet its not difficult to keep track of the air and naval forces of the great or of such other Powers As new zealand and Britain which from time to time also appear in an area that each also regards As essential to its own United states Orion and u2 reconnaissance planes regularly crisscross and ground stations and ships intercept coded military from All of naval intelligence officials believe that at least 17 and at times nearly twice that number of russian warships regularly cruise the calling at the dozen or More ports on the Periphery where they Are Many of these ships Are capable of staying on station a year or in some cases up to three using Berbera As a regular base but for More temporary reasons tying up at one of nearly a dozen temporary an some As close As 100 Miles from Diego the United states has a permanent complement of Only three ships in its Indian Ocean Alt stationed at Bahrain in the persian Gulf under an arrangement now under in United states aircraft operate in the Ocean with their task groups for about three months each the first surge occurred during the ind Pakistan War of 1971 and the Ara israeli War of when both the United states and the soviet Union sent substantial fleets into the the finding a warmer reception than they had counted simply decided to stick As one military analyst this is the topic that will be discussed by the United states and the soviet Union in its a subject of immense involving the armaments of their and personnel As Well As the types and Potency of the planes and missiles in the other factors Are at work too these new alliances with the great new political alignments that should affect traditional allegiances among the coastal states who for years have been calling for designation of their Indian Ocean As a zone of the new Indian for is Likely to be substantially less receptive to the frequent port Calls of soviet ships that the government of Indira Gandhi welcomed Iraq has opened its port of umm Qasir to a soviet flotilla that will use the facilities russian Engi neers have recently finished improving far beyond the needs of Iraq tiny the russians have recently begun sending Small helicopter carriers into the Region and the Deepwater Lagoon at Diego Garcia is capable of Docking 12 including an aircraft Carrier the size of the nuclear powered each in turn could serve As a Trade off for any one or More of a Range of other Force strength talks or the strategic arms negotiations themselves since the Indian Ocean is a potential launching ground for Polaris Type or cruise Type missiles directed at the soviet Union or there Are also other countries to the countries that ring the Ocean these could be the biggest naval disarmament talks since said one stale department arms re Ferring to the Washington naval conference when the major Powers at the end of world War i put a ceiling on the numbers of capital ships each could build and and they didst even have aircraft carriers in those v Navy p3 recon plane at Diego the Indian Ocean base under development six april 1977 stars and stripes Page 13