Yuan Wang 5 Described by international shipping and analytics sites as a research and survey vessel, but referred to as a dual-use spy ship.
New Delhi is skeptical of Beijing’s growing presence in the Indian Ocean and influence in Sri Lanka, seeing both of them firmly within its sphere of influence.
The Yuan Wang 5 was originally due for a call at the Chinese-run Hambantota port in Sri Lanka on August 11, only to have Colombo ask Beijing to suspend the voyage indefinitely following India’s objections.
But Sri Lanka’s port master Nirmal P Silva said that they have received the approval of the Ministry of External Affairs to call the ship to Hambantota from August 16 to 22.
“Today I got diplomatic clearance. We will work with the local agent appointed by the ship to ensure logistics at the port,” Silva told AFP.
Foreign Ministry sources confirmed that Colombo had renewed permission for Chinese travel, which was initially granted on July 12, a day before then-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s protests over the country’s worst economic crisis in months. fled after.
Rajapaksa – whose brother Mahinda borrowed heavily from China when he was president from 2005 to 2015 – resigned after fleeing to Singapore.
Tens of thousands of protesters took over his palace and home in Colombo after accusing him of mismanagement in the economic crisis, leading to severe shortages of food, fuel and medicines.
Port officials said the Chinese ship was about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) southeast of Sri Lanka on Friday night and was slowly heading towards the Hambantota deep sea port.
Sri Lanka leased the port – close to the main shipping routes from Asia to Europe – to China for 99 years for $1.12 billion, less than the $1.4 billion Sri Lanka paid a Chinese company to build it.
According to Indian reports, the Yuan Wang 5 can be employed for space and satellite tracking, and has a specific use in intercontinental ballistic missile launches.
The Indian government expressed concern that the ship might spy on its movements, and lodged a complaint in Colombo.
New Delhi’s foreign ministry has said it will “closely monitor any impact on India’s security and economic interests and take all necessary measures to protect them”.
Even when the Chinese ship was allowed to enter Sri Lankan waters, Colombo’s air force said it was given a maritime surveillance aircraft by India.
It said the Dornier 228 patrol aircraft was borrowed from the Indian Navy fleet as part of a donation organized in 2018.