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| The ChineseSship is in The Indian Ocean |
Sri Lanka's Ranil Wickramasinghe government has not allowed Chinese research ships to dock at Colombo port. However, the ship has already entered the Indian Ocean, according to a Hindustan Times report. The ship is currently in the 90 East Ridge area in the Mediterranean. It is coming towards Sri Lanka.
At least 48 Chinese research vessels have been deployed in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) since 2019.
Foreign Minister Ali Sabri said last Monday that his country has a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) regarding the anchoring of the Chinese Shi Yan-6 research vessel in Sri Lankan port. For this reason they have to consult with many friendly countries including India. India has long been concerned about their security. So they have taken a stand in favor of SOP.
Ali Sabri also said, 'As far as I know, we have not given permission (for Chinese ships) to come to Sri Lanka in October. Indian security concerns are legitimate, which is very important to us. For this reason, I have always said, we want to keep our region peaceful.'
Ali Sabri said, the discussion is going on. If the research vessel complies with Sri Lankan SOPs, then there is no problem.
A month ago Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe said in an interview that there is no spy ship in Sri Lanka. If the vessel complies with Sri Lankan SOPs, then there is no problem. Research vessel Xi Yan-6 will conduct joint military scientific research in Sri Lanka's EEZ.
India assumed that the Shi Yan-6 ship was launched after Ranil Wickremesinghe's visit to China or during his visit to China. Ranil is scheduled to be in Beijing on October 17 and 18 to mark the 10-year anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Another thing is that Sri Lanka's economy was in crisis due to high interest rate loans. Under the BRI scheme, the Rajapakse government took up unnecessary and luxury projects with financing from China's Exim Bank. Wickramasinghe was in the cabinet of that government then, he was even the Prime Minister. Ronil leased Hambantota port to China for 99 years as Sri Lanka defaulted on debt.
China's research vessel Shi Yan-6 entered the Indian Ocean on September 23 through the Strait of Malacca. The ship was sighted in Singapore on 14 September after leaving Guangzhou, China.
According to the Hindustan Times, Sri Lanka has to remain under the pressure of China's debt despite India's security and strategic concerns. However, Sri Lanka is expected to delay allowing the research vessel to anchor in Colombo.
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