Nicobar, an island of immense ecological value, sits at the crossroads of strategic ambition and environmental recklessness

In the annals of India’s development story, few projects have generated as much heat as the Great Nicobar Island Development Project. Conceived by NITI Aayog in 2021 and fast-tracked through environmental clearances the following year, the Rs 81,000-crore mega-scheme promises a transshipment port, a dual-use military-civil airport, a township, and a power plant on one of the most ecologically sensitive islands on Earth. The government calls it holistic development. Critics call it something closer to ecocide.

The project’s strategic logic is not without merit. Great Nicobar sits at one of the world’s most consequential maritime chokepoints, near the Strait of Malacca, through which a staggering share of........

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