Amid India’s Concerns About Espionage, Chinese Vessel To Conduct Research in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has permitted a Chinese vessel 48 hours to undertake marine research off the island’s west coast under supervision, the foreign ministry stated today, amid Indian worries that it could be a spy ship.

According to Ministry spokesperson Kapila Fonseka, the Chinese research ship Shi Yan 6, which has been in Colombo since Wednesday, would be permitted to work for two days beginning Monday.

Previously, Sri Lanka allowed the warship to enter Colombo’s major port only for replenishments due to fears made by neighboring India that the vessel could be used to spy on them.

New Delhi is wary of China’s growing presence in the Indian Ocean, as well as its influence in Sri Lanka, which is strategically located halfway along vital east-west international trade routes.

Last year, a Chinese spacecraft-tracking vessel aroused security concerns in India, while Sri Lanka prevented it from doing any research activity while in its waters.

Fonseka stated that local experts will be onboard Shi Yan 6 for two days of research activities around the island’s western seaboard.

“Apart from our scientists and researchers, the Sri Lanka navy too will be monitoring this vessel”, Fonseka continued.

The 90-metre (300-foot) ship is docked in Colombo, where a Chinese state-owned business runs a deep-sea facility.

In 2014, two Chinese submarines arrived there, sparking outrage in India.

After Colombo granted Shi Yan 6 restricted permissions, neither the Chinese nor Indian foreign embassies in Sri Lanka responded immediately.

The Shi Yan 6 is described as a ‘scientific research vessel’ with a crew of 60 to conduct oceanography, geology, and marine ecology tests.

Last year, another Chinese research vessel, Yuan Wang 5, which specializes in spacecraft tracking and was classified as a spy ship by New Delhi, visited Sri Lanka.

After Colombo was unable to service a $1.4 billion debt for the project, it moored in Hambantota, a port in Sri Lanka’s south, under a 99-year lease to the Chinese company that built it.

Sri Lanka defaulted on its $46 billion external debt last year, precipitating an extraordinary economic crisis that was exacerbated in part by Chinese loans used to fund white-elephant infrastructure projects between 2005 and 2015.

China owns 52 percent of Sri Lanka’s bilateral debt, and Colombo’s plans to restructure its outstanding loans will require Beijing’s agreement.

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