Sri Lanka considers India's request on Chinese ship
Hindustan Times By Shishir Gupta Oct 14, 2023
Wickremesinghe's response to Jaishankar's issue was non-committal during their October 11 meeting in Colombo.
New Delhi: Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe is considering India’s request to not allow Chinese Survey and Research Vessel Shi Yan 6 to undertake a joint military scientific research with the island nation’s National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) in Sri Lanka’s Exclusive Economic Zone between late October and November this year, people familiar with the matter said.
President Wickremesinghe’s response to the issue, raised by external affairs minister S Jaishankar during his meeting with the Sri Lankan head of state in Colombo on October 11, was non-committal, the people added, asking not to be named. Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mohammed Ali Sabry was quoted by Sri Lanka’s The Island newspaper on October 9 saying that his country had given permission to the Chinese ship for docking at Colombo deep seaport in November. The same report quoted him as saying that Sri Lanka does not want “to get involved” with “big power rivalry going on” between “China, India and the US”.
The Chinese vessel was earlier maintaining position 1,000 km east of the China-controlled Hambantota port in the Island nation, and is currently about 280 nautical miles (500 km) east of Chennai in the Bay of Bengal. Carrying nearly 2,000 tonnes of diesel, the ship has enough supplies to last for two more months. The ship entered the Indian Ocean Region on September 23.
In July, after a visit by the Sri Lankan President, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it was “necessary” the two countries worked “together, keeping in mind each other’s security interests”. The final decision on the ship, HT learns, may be taken by Wickremesinghe during his visit to Beijing to attend the BRI summit on October 17-18 at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Over the past five years, Chinese ships have been active in the Indian Ocean Region with the PLA Navy growing into a proper blue water navy.
The total number of vessels including warships, ballistic missile trackers, survey and research vessels recorded in 2019 were 29, grew to 39 in 2020, then 45 in 2021 and 43 in 2022. This year, till September 15, 28 Chinese ships have been recorded in the region.
Even though Sri Lanka and China have dismissed New Delhi’s concerns and passed off the ship’s visit as having to do with routine marine research, India’s national security planners are convinced that the PLA is mapping the Indian Ocean bed to chart out new sea routes to the east and north coast of Africa as well as Indian Ocean Littoral States that bypass India altogether. This research is a precursor to Chinese strike forces patrolling the high seas in IOR as early as 2025, they believe.
The Island Published 2023/10/11
By Rathindra Kuruwita
Chinese research vessel Shi Yan 6 would arrive in Sri Lanka in late November, Foreign Minister Mohamed Ali Sabry said on Monday (09). The Foreign Ministry had granted approval for the arrival of the ship, he added.
“The ship is expected to arrive in Sri Lanka on 25 November. Initially, they wanted to come in October. We asked them to come in November. They again asked if they could come in late October. We have maintained our position that they must come in late November. This is the situation, now.”
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| Foreign Minister Ali Sabry |
The Minister said that the Sri Lankan government had a lot on its hands now and that it needed to marshal all its resources to deal with the sensitive issues pertaining to the Chinese ship visit.
“We held an international conference of environmental ministers last week. We will have an IORA meeting this week, and we have to accommodate representatives of 34 countries. President Ranil Wickremesinghe will go to China next week. Then a French delegation will be here. We have requested the Chinese to come thereafter,” the Foreign Minister said, adding that there was a lot of pressure from India and several other parties.
“We can’t deny there is pressure from multiple sides. This is a complex matter, given geopolitics. There will be controversies within and outside Sri Lanka. We need to be ready to deal with these pressures. We need to have all the resources at our disposal.”
Minister Sabry said there is a struggle among major powers. Sri Lanka sits at a strategic location in the Indian Ocean.
“We need to balance everything. This is not easy. We need to maintain good relations with everyone involved.”
China has been a friend of Sri Lanka, and relations with the middle kingdom are extremely important to Sri Lanka, Minister Sabry said.
“We have not changed our stance. We have given them a date.”
India views the arrival of Chinese ships from a different angle, he said.
“Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike before the the UN General Assembly, in 1964, said that the Indian Ocean and the skies above it would be declared a Zone of Peace. This is what we want. We won’t do anything that violates the peace in the Indian Ocean. We have tough choices, and we have to make the best decisions for the country.”
Minister Sabry said that as a sovereign nation, Sri Lanka could decide whether to allow a vessel to enter one of its ports, and discussions with the Chinese were based on that.
The Minister, however, refused to divulge whether Indian officials had directly reached out to him and expressed disapproval for allowing the Chinese research vessel to arrive.
“We can’t reveal everything. China is a close friend. We have repeatedly said we will not discriminate against China for any reason. India is also important to us. They helped us greatly last year. The West is also important to us because 80 percent of our exports go there. I don’t make decisions on my own. We all talk and decide what the best course of action is.”
Minister Sabry also said that the Foreign Ministry has not in any way influenced academics from Ruhuna University to be involved with Shi Yan 6. Initially, it was reported that academics from Ruhuna University would board the ship. However, last week, Prof. Disna Ratnasekera of the China Sri Lanka Joint Centre for Education and Research (CSL-CER) of the University of Ruhuna told the media that they were not involved with the research carried out by the vessel.
“We have not told the university anything. The decision was probably taken by the university,” he said
However, the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) Chairman Prof. Jayantha Wijeyaratne said NARA was involved in the research carried out by the ship and that geophysical and seismic survey vessel Shi Yan 6 would be in the possession of NARA and that those data will be considered property of the Sri Lankan government. Prof. Wijeyaratne said NARA would mainly focus on research related to the quality of water, not the seabed.
Minister Sabry added that Victoria Nuland, Acting United States Deputy Secretary of State, had not informed him that the US was disappointed that Sri Lanka had granted permission for the Chinese research vessel to come.
“China, India, and the US have a big power rivalry going. There are a lot of suspicions. They worry that other countries are collecting information about them. We don’t want to get involved with any of this.”
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| Chinese vessel Shi Yan 6 |
September 26 2023 NDTV
New York: Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry on Monday said that Colombo has not given permission to a Chinese vessel to dock, adding that Indian security concerns are "important" for Sri Lanka.
Asked about reports regarding a Chinese research vessel named Shi Yan 6 scheduled to be docked in Sri Lanka in October and India's concerns regarding it, he said that they have a standard operating procedure (SOP) and they have consulted many friends, including India.
"That's a conversation going on for some period of time. India has expressed its concerns over a long time, but we have come out with the SOP (standard operating procedure). When we were making that, we consulted many of our friends, including India. So, as long as it complies with the SOP, we have no problem. But if it doesn't comply with the SOP, we have a problem," Ali Sabry told ANI.
He said that Sri Lanka has not given permission for the Chinese vessel Shi Yan 6 to dock in October, adding that negotiations are going on.
"So, therefore, as far as I know, we have not given permission to come to Sri Lanka during October. Negotiations are going on. Indian security concerns, which are legitimate, are very, very important for us. We have always told that because we want to keep our region a zone of peace," said Ali Sabry.
Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe too had said that an SPO had been worked out for foreign vessels.
The Chinese research vessel was expected in Sri Lanka in October to conduct research along with the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA), Sri Lanka-based Daily Mirror reported.
US Under Secretary Victoria Nuland, during her meeting with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, had raised concerns regarding Shi Yan 6's visit.
Sabry told Nuland that Sri Lanka had worked out the SOP to be followed by foreign ships and aircraft in carrying out any activity in Sri Lankan territory, according to the Daily Mirror report.
Reportedly, he told her that Sri Lanka had been even-handed in this approach for all nations and could not exclude China from the process. The two leaders held a meeting on the sidelines of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
Last year, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, while commenting on Chinese spy vessel Yuan Wang-5 which had docked in Sri Lanka, said that any developments that have a bearing on India's security are "obviously of an interest to us".
"What happens in our neighbourhood, any developments which have a bearing on our security obviously are of an interest to us," Mr Jaishankar said at a joint press conference after the 9th India-Thailand Joint Commission Meeting.
India had expressed its security concerns over the docking of the vessel at the Sri Lankan port as it was shown as a research vessel with the capability of mapping the ocean bed, which is critical to anti-submarine operations of the Chinese Navy. The Chinese research ship had docked at Sri Lanka's Hambantota Port.
The US has expressed its concern to Sri Lanka about a Chinese research ship
Indian Express First published on: 26-09-2023 at 19:34 IST
The US has expressed its concern to Sri Lanka about a Chinese research ship likely to dock in the island country next month, a development India too finds concerning.
According to media reports, US Under Secretary Victoria Nuland, who met Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session, raised concerns about the upcoming visit of the Chinese research vessel ‘Shi Yan 6’.
Last year, India had objected to a Chinese ship docking in the Sri Lankan port of Hambantota.
Why is the Chinese ship coming to Sri Lanka? Why does India oppose this? What has happened in similar situations earlier?
What is Shi Yan 6?
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| U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland |
According to AFP, Chinese state broadcaster CGTN said the Shi Yan 6 is a “scientific research vessel” with a 60-member crew, which carries out oceanography, marine geology and marine ecology tests. Beijing had sought Colombo’s permission to dock the ship last month, but the final date and port have seemingly not been decided.
PTI reported that the Chinese research vessel is expected in the island country in October to carry out research along with Sri Lanka’s National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA).
“Described as a Research/Survey Vessel with a carrying capacity of 1115 DWT [deadweight tonnage], the current draught is reported to be 5.3 metres in length overall 90.6 metres and width 17 metres,” said PTI.
Why does India object to Chinese vessels docking in Sri Lanka?
India considers Chinese ships docked so close to its mainland a security threat, and suspects they could be used for snooping, even when their stated aim is scientific research.
The US too had earlier this year shot down what it called a Chinese spy balloon floating over its territory, while Beijing said it was a weather balloon.
What happened last year?
India raised objections to a Chinese ballistic missile and satellite tracking ship staying at Hambantota port on Sri Lanka’s southern coast for a week. While Sri Lanka had earlier asked China to postpone the arrival of the hi-tech vessel following Indian concerns, it later made a U-turn and allowed the docking.
The vessel, Yuan Wang 5, is used to track satellite, rocket and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launches. India had feared that the Yuan Wang 5’s significant aerial reach — reportedly around 750 km — would mean that several ports in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh would be on China’s radar, and several vital installations in south India could be snooped upon.
China had insisted that “the marine scientific research activities of the Yuan Wang 5 are consistent with international law and international common practice… They do not affect the security and the economic interests of any country and should not be obstructed by any third party.”
Before the Yuan Wang 5 row, ties between India and Sri Lanka had earlier come under strain over Colombo’s permission for a Chinese nuclear-powered submarine to dock at one of its ports in 2014.
How has Sri Lanka reacted to US comments?
After Nuland voiced her concerns, reported PTI, Sabry told her that as a neutral country, Sri Lanka had worked out a Standard Operating Procedure to be followed by foreign ships and aircraft carrying out any activity in its territory, and as part of their “even-handed approach”, they could not “exclude China”.
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