India Spotted Flying Object Over Strategic Island Chain in 2022: Report

The islands are close to Indias missile testing areas in the Bay of Bengal and sit near the Malacca Strait, a key bottleneck for supplies of energy and other goods to China and other North Asian nations.

About a year ago, locals on a strategic Indian island chain that sits closer to Singapore than New Delhi spotted an unusual object in the sky: a giant balloon similar to the one the US downed earlier this month. 

At the time, nobody really knew what it was. As hundreds of people on the Andaman and Nicobar islands ventured outside and snapped photos of the unusual flying object that lit up social media, India's defense establishment became alarmed. 

The islands are close to India's missile testing areas in the Bay of Bengal and sit near the Malacca Strait, a key bottleneck for supplies of energy and other goods to China and other North Asian nations. 

Now, in the aftermath of the US shooting down a balloon it alleged was part of Chinese surveillance, Indian officials are revisiting the incident while developing protocols to improve their ability to detect similar threats and respond more quickly in the future, the officials said.