Indonesia seizes the Andaman and Nicobar islands during the 1965 Indo-Pakistani war

There was also the fact that in 1965 they were in the middle of the Konfrontasi with the British Commonwealth which may limit their ability to get involved with the Indians!
Given the Konfrontasi was low intensity guerrilla conflict. I don't see why it would have much effect with the navy or conventional operations to take the Islands .
 
Given the Konfrontasi was low intensity guerrilla conflict. I don't see why it would have much effect with the navy or conventional operations to take the Islands .

Oh I dunno at the time the British, Australian and New Zealand governments were taking it very seriously - what with at its height which would have been around 1965 - 27,000 troops deployed in the region!

That might have focused their attention somewhat!
 
You don't gain any strategic advantage over Malaysia by occupying the Andaman and Nicobar Islands as Sumatra already provides everything far closer and easier than the Andaman and Nicobar Islands
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idk, seems like they would offer plenty of additional coverage for the western approach to the peninsula. India and Indonesia throwing down there would greatly complicate navigation.
 
Given the Konfrontasi was low intensity guerrilla conflict. I don't see why it would have much effect with the navy or conventional operations to take the Islands .

It was kept low intensity by the deployment of nuclear V Bombers, amongst other power projection assets, to the theatre.

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If the TNI tried to take these island the Konfrontasi would escalate into a conventional war which Indonesia would lose horrifically.

BTW the Konfrontasi was not a guerilla war, it was fought with Regular TNI forces and included airborne and amphibious assaults on mainland Malaya.
 
seems like they would offer plenty of additional coverage for the western approach to the peninsula
but it's blocked off by Sumatra which is Indonesian

If the TNI tried to take these island the Konfrontasi would escalate into a conventional war which Indonesia would lose horrifically.
Why would Britain escalate the conflict,what justification does Britain have to intervene in the defense of Indian territory and why would India break with it's policy of neutrality and allow it's former colonizer on it's soil.
 
but it's blocked off by Sumatra which is Indonesian
Contested would be a better word, the Commonwealth and allied Thailand control the opposite shore of the passage. Occupying the A+N islands would expand the amount of seas with strong Indonesian presence that British ships would have to traverse, and push the area of Indonesian control to the point where British ships would would have to spend some time sailing in-between two unfriendly states (Indonesia and Communist Burma) or through areas where land on both sides is occupied by the Indonesian military.
 
Why would Britain escalate the conflict,what justification does Britain have to intervene in the defense of Indian territory and why would India break with it's policy of neutrality and allow it's former colonizer on it's soil.

As part of the Cold War strategy of Containment, given that an assault on A & N islands would be the third country Indonesia would have attacked in 3 years.

The Commonwealth doesn't need India's permission to shoot down TNI planes and sink TNI ships en-route to A & N islands, which would be more than sufficient to thwart any invasion attempt.
 
Why would Britain escalate the conflict,what justification does Britain have to intervene in the defense of Indian territory and why would India break with its policy of neutrality and allow it's former colonizer on it's soil.

In this case it would be Indonesia that was escalating.

Britain was a Guarantor for India and for that matter Pakistan and East Pakistan.

In the case of a kick up between them both - the UK and Commonwealth can only really wring their hands and try to calm the situation (which was actively being done by both nations already in trying to limit the conflict to that one region)

In the case of Indonesia invading those Islands....Well this is where Sabres can be rattled and the mournful primordial howl of Vulcans would be heard above Jakarta to refocus attitudes.

As for timelines - Note that right up to 1st Sept - the Indian Navy's primary concern had been the defence of those Islands (which had become their sole responsibility) against any possible adventurism by Indonesian forces and much of the operational fleet not undergoing planned refit was based their - it was only after the shelling of Dwarka that they redeployed to the West coast.

It was only after the Indian counter attack (6th Sept) that Pakistan sought out help from Indonisia (and others) and Air Marshal (Rtr) Asghar Khan of the PAF visited the President Soekarno and Admiral Martadinata of Indonesia

The Admiral proposed increasing patrols of the area and conduct aerial reconnaissance missions to determine what Indian Ships were in the area which implies they had no clue as to Indian Navy dispositions

The other major issue regarding conducting operations in the area at this time is that this is the latter half of the Monsoon season - one of the reasons why INS Mysore and the Type 41 Frigates operated there was that smaller vessels were ineffective at this time due to the weather so given that the Indonesian navy comprised of 1 Cruiser and half a dozen odd DDs at various states of readiness with no real amphibious capabilities

So there is maybe a tiny window of opportunity - that is only known today after completing the jigsaw - and would not have been known by any one faction at the time - for Indonesian to invade the Islands - which is about 2 or 3 weeks in Sept
 
.....the mournful primordial howl of Vulcans would be heard above Jakarta to refocus attitudes.

Australian SAS conducting cross-border 'Claret' ops said that on clear nights Vulcans would fly over Kalimantan (Borneo), on the Indonesian side of the border, slow and low so that the TNI could see what they were up against.

Cheeky!
 
Australian SAS conducting cross-border 'Claret' ops said that on clear nights Vulcans would fly over Kalimantan (Borneo), on the Indonesian side of the border, slow and low so that the TNI could see what they were up against.

Cheeky!

Tsk! Crab Air getting lost...again!
 
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