On its own, India Renews Search of Nicobar and Andaman Islands; New Dehli Government denies China's request to send 4 ships to Indian Archipelago

BALTIMORE, Maryland March 21, 2014 - As the search for debris spotted by satellite bogs down in the remote southern part of the Indian Ocean, India has revealed that it has elected to restart - or is it continue? - its search of the Nicobar and Andaman Islands without having been asked to do so by Malaysian Authorities or any other government. After two weeks of a massive international search for the missing Malaysian Jumbo Jet with 239 people on board, and a second day of fruitless searching for debris in the remote southern Indian Ocean where satellite images suggested debris was afloat, India renewed its search of its own territorial waters while at the same time revealing it had fielded a formal request from China to deploy four of its ships in the clustered duel island chain.

While there is some reason to think the renewed interest in the 572 Islands in the Bay of Bengal is the result of the south Indian Ocean Search coming up empty for the second straight day, the China request also drove home the sensitive nature of the international search. The Chinese request was revealed Thursday by the Times of India. The request was for four ships, including two frigates and one "salvage" ship, according to the Indian newspaper. The Indian Government has "politely" denied the request, says the New Dehli-based Times of India.

Asked why the government of India had elected to return to the Islands to look for the issing plane without being asked to do so, an Indian Navy spokesman said, "All the navies of the world have SAR regions," said Capt. D.K. Sharma told Reuters, referring to search and rescue regions. "So we're doing it at our own behest." A "SAR," or Special Administrative Region is an area claimed by a sovreign country but not included in the geographical areas normally ruled over by the central government. Ironically, China is the nation with the most famous SAR's: Hong Kong and Macau.

The New Dehli government said that it turned down the Chinese request very politely. "We don't want Chinese warships sniffing around in the area on the pretext of hunting for the missing jetliner or anti-piracy patrols," said an official of the Indian Navy in the Times. The newspaper said the Indian Military deems the two chains "strategic" to the defense of the subcontinent. Many of the islands are uninhabited and many more are evvironmentally protected, having pristine canopies never cut down or harvested by man. The Indian Navy has never abandoned the search of the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal and has four warships currently searching the area.

India is participating in the search overseen by the Malaysian Government. The missing jet's last flight originated in Malaysia and was bound for Beijing, China. A majority of the passengers were Chinese. Monday night or Tuesday morning - depending on what part of the world you are in - Australia revealed it had satellite images of several large pieces of debris in the southern Indian Ocean, 1500 miles southwest of Western Australia. But two days of searching by high-tech planes and at least one ship have come up empty. Other planes and ships are moving to the remote location identified by the National Transportation Safety Board of the United States as an area of high interest for those seeking the missing jet. The NTSB utilized satellite contacts with the missing jet in the hours after it dropped from local radars in Malaysia.