The Island of Secrets | Al Jazeera Investigations

[Applause] [Music] tropical beaches and clear seas have made mauritius a popular destination for high-end tourists in 30 years tourism has transformed this country once dependent on agriculture into a glamorous indian ocean resort the indian ocean is one of if not the most important bodies of water in the world right now but away from the tourists on a barely accessible outer island al jazeera's eye unit discovers that a secret military base is being built there's no real reason why this island would be developed other than for military use the government says all the construction work is simply to improve the lives of its residents there is no agreement to set up a military base in agaliga the island's residents don't believe their government and fear for their future [Music] to say [Music] mauritius is in the southwest indian ocean it's made up of four island groups the largest mauritius rodriguez also a tourist destination the saint brandon reef and the agalega islands [Music] despite golden sands the two islands of agalega have not been developed for tourism around 300 people live here fishing and coconut farming provide the main sources of income we analyze satellite imagery from early 2019 and find a surge of activity on the northern island [Music] port facilities are expanding before this there was a small shoreline jetty supply ships had to anchor in deeper waters and use small boats to carry goods ashore now jetties extend into the sea two structures with cranes are also visible indicating a second l-shaped jetty is under construction so we see the jetties that are extending far away from the beach into much deeper ocean and then we have the much larger construction project coming out here much further into the deeper dark waters which is a lot more conducive to hosting larger ships videos shot by the island's residents show the growth in building work there is new housing but who's moving in a new runway is also under construction the island has a short runway [Music] it's only suitable for small prop planes like those belonging to the mauritian coast guard by april 2019 land clearing begins nearby the new runway takes shape the runway is paved by the end of 2020 it's more than three kilometers long [Music] it looks like you could probably accommodate some larger passenger aircraft and could also accommodate i assume military transport and control aircraft they've got an apron built on a tube which is basically a parking lot for planes they don't just expect to have small puddle hoppers coming in and out they expect to have some larger planes come in that are going to have to stop and refuel and hang out for a bit in march 2021 trucks diggers and excavators continue clearing land a deforested area near the northern tip has become home to hundreds of construction workers while developing the island for the local inhabitants is important there was not much reason for gigantic construction projects such as this [Music] there are offices shipping containers and large quantities of building material locals don't believe the mauritian government's claims that the construction is for them [Music] [Music] samuel bashfield believes the structures are being prepared for military use in this area here we can see what potentially could be the the military base or the military facility so there's a few sports fields there that could be used for sport or even as a parade ground mauritius doesn't have an air force only four coast guard planes its navy consists of small ships that focus on smuggling piracy and rescue missions there's no real reason why this island would be developed other than for military use the runway is considerable in length about 3 000 metres which is capable of hosting maritime surveillance aircraft and the port facilities you know do have the hallmarks of being for military use to find out who is constructing these military facilities we examine where materials for the construction are coming from we discover that in 2020 one ship spent significant time near agalega we find the name of the ship using its automatic identification system ais is a tracking system that assigns a unique identifying number to a vessel [Music] it transmits radio signals that allow maritime authorities to monitor ships by identifying the ais transmissions at their same latitude and longitude as the satellite image we verify the ship's identity ais tracking reveals that one vessel was remaining near the northern tip of agalega moving very slowly at 0.6 knots it's registered as the glocken [Music] two smaller vessels are spotted on its starboard side two cargo holes on the deck appear open indicating that goods were probably being removed from the holes [Music] we compare the satellite image with marine traffic photos notice the forward mast and distinctive antenna there is room for the two central cargo holes there's also a prominent dark funnel the ship is owned by an indian company based in mumbai we plot the glockum's past ais transmissions to find the port calls and journeys that were taken in 2020 [Music] since february the glockum spends over a week at visa kapatnam india's third largest state-owned port there's also an indian naval base there it's the headquarters of the eastern naval command the glockem stays for more than six months near agalega in may 2021 it leaves and heads for canner in kerala state the glockum is not the only vessel that makes the journey to agalega in 2020. the eye unit tracks seven ships that travel from indian ports as part of the construction project [Music] eyewitness accounts provide further evidence linking the construction to india [Music] and [Music] social media posts by workers reveal that the construction company is afkon's infrastructure headquartered in mumbai the eye unit obtains the company's financial records [Music] the cost of the project is the equivalent of 250 million us dollars [Music] tucked away in a 400-page budget document is evidence that the indian government is funding the project in 2016 it allocated 4.4 million u.s dollars for experts from the ministry of defense to conduct a survey on agalega the mission was to strengthen india's maritime surveillance capacity [Music] to it's an absolute um perfect spot for a military base i think that that that southern southwestern indian ocean area is an increasing hot spot the indian ocean is one of if not the most important bodies of water in the world right now and it's the site of increasing geopolitical tension because you have the resident power india and a rising china who has now for the first time in its history and i mean in its entire history a blue water navy that allows it to project power globally china built its first foreign military base in 2017 in the horn of africa at a cost of nearly 600 million dollars [Music] for india tying mauritius more into its influence making sure that india remains the partner of choice insulates mauritius from over chinese influence which india sees as a good [Music] mauritius in india signed a memorandum of understanding in 2015 concerning the development of agalega the agreement describes the construction as the upgrading of infrastructure that will ameliorate the condition of the inhabitants of this remote island our agreement today on the development of agalega island is a major stride in our cooperation in infrastructure sector there is no mention of a military base despite public denials indian military officers confirm in private the visual evidence that we have gathered when you interact with you know like common naval personnel or current or surveying uh ministry officials and all like then you get an idea as to which direction this is heading towards i have gotten that impression that the base will be used for you know cutting of our ship the runway will be mostly used for the p81 aircraft p81 is useful for anti-submarine warfare for anti-surface warfare to what extent this will help increase india's presence quite exponentially it is important for india's eyes as a regional power the secrecy surrounding the military facility has drawn parallels with events at diego garcia on chagos island which was once part of mauritius mauritius's former colonial ruler britain turned diego garcia into a military base and leased it to the u.s in a secret deal the island was forcibly depopulated the people who left voluntarily to go to mauritius for healthcare or to do shopping they weren't allowed back and then by 1973 all the people who were left in the chagos archipelago were all rounded up and all deported in agalega there is potential for a similar type of event happening those who've left agalega today say they are not allowed to return [Music] no doubt life will be very different on the island once this military base is finished you don't want people walking through a military base that's for sure india as well as mauritius want to keep the true purpose of the construction a secret we cannot be seen as someone who is supporting militarization of our issue [Music] we are concerned that china has acquired its first overseas base in djibouti for us to go and do the same thing will be hypocritical the mauritian prime minister has been asked about the construction [Music] let me reiterate most emphatically and in unequivocal terms that there is no agreement between mauritius and india to set up a military base in agaliga issues of sovereignty and all that is the main reason why we can't outrightly term it as either a military base or a military facility these are all based i mean matters of national security there is no agreement between mauritius and india to set up a military base in agaliga but it is a military base right to any normal person in a way yeah so we agree it is a military base [Music] [Applause] you

Channel: Al Jazeera English

Views: 3,893,560

Keywords: agalega, al jazeera english, al jazeera investigations, diego garcia, india china, indian secret military hub, island military base, mauritius, mauritius india military base, mauritius indian currency, mauritius indian military base, military a base in agaléga, secret facilities in the world, secret indian military base, secret island in mauritius, secret missile transport to indian military base, top secret military base in india, aljazeera english, al jazeera, aljazeera live

Id: wKb1nZ5YnCg

Length: 16min 44sec (1004 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 03 2021