Space has been 'militarized' the moment Sputnik launched. But I doubt India does anything more than take pictures of the earth in "strategic" locations, just like everybody else.
Actually if they do a LOT of "space port rental" to companies in India AND from other nations, it could give them an advantage over other nations that aren't so lucky as to be so close to the equator.
Though for polar and other 'non-equatorial' orbits, there's no advantage to such a location. So spy satellites won't be sent from there, most likely.
The earth is roughly 24,000 miles in diameter, so it's moving about 1,000 miles an hour near the equator. That compared to Canaveral, which is about 28 degrees North, making it roughly 880 mph. This difference is significant enough but the latitude of the Baikonur Cosmodrome is ~46 degrees, which is only ~690mph. So launching from India gives you a ~300mph boost over what you'd get at Baikonur.
(the difference between 8 deg N and 5 deg N, to point out, is insignificant - cos(latitude) * 1000mph for the approximate rotational speed at that point on earth).
Biting the hand that feeds IT
