Less than a month after China’s new nuclear submarine base came to light, latest satellite images show that Beijing is upgrading and extending its nuclear missile deployment site that is nearest to India. The images reveal that the Delingha missile base, located 1,900 km northeast of New Delhi in the central province of Qinghai, has recently been upgraded and new missile launch sites have been added at the military facility.

The base, complete with extensive underground storage facilities, houses China’s DF 21 Medium Range Ballistic Missiles (MRBM) that have a range of over 2,200 km and can target most cities in northern India and southern Russia. New Delhi has been keeping the base — built in the late 1970s — under regular surveillance.

Experts analysing the new satellite imagery have identified 58 launch pads, many of which have been added within the last four years. New command and control facilities and missile deployment equipment are also visible at the base.

While the upgraded base does not change the situation much for India — it has been within the reach of Chinese nuclear missiles for years — it once again brings to light that New Delhi is far from matching Beijing’s growing strategic reach in the region.

“China appears to be building/ upgrading launch pads in the area, but that is to escape US and Russian counter-force targeting. India is still many years away from a counter-force capability, if it ever plans to develop one,” Hans Kristensen, Director, Nuclear Information Project, Federation of American Scientists (FAS), told The Indian Express.

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