'Aware of Chinese spy vessel's presence in Indian Ocean, heading towards Maldives,' says Indian Navy

Chinese survey and research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 03 is en route Maldives and has entered the Indian Ocean through the Sunda Strait of Indonesia on Monday.

The destination of the Chinese vessel is Male and it is so, after Sri Lanka refused permission for it to dock at one of its ports.

“XIANG YANG HONG 03 the Chinese ocean research vessel heading to Male, Maldives is no stranger to the region, having conducted ocean surveys in 2019 & 2020, the vessel has been observed in the IOR, Bay of Bengal & Arabian Sea raising fresh concerns in India,” OSINT handle @detresfa posted on ‘X’, adding the vessel coordinates.

XIANG YANG HONG 03 the Chinese ocean research vessel heading to Male, Maldives is no stranger to the region, having conducted ocean surveys in 2019 & 2020, the vessel has been observed in the IOR, Bay of Bengal & Arabian Sea raising fresh concerns in #India https://t.co/WsiMOzjYkZ pic.twitter.com/8iDzCSuVEg

— Damien Symon (@detresfa_) January 22, 2024

India monitoring Chinese research vessel's move

India is closely tracking the Chinese vessel equipped with advanced surveillance equipment.

“There have been no instances of the ship undertaking any type of research activities within the Indian EEZ. Indian Navy is aware of the presence of the ship and is monitoring it's movement," Defence sources to News18 said.

As per reports the Chinese research vessel is expected to reach the Maldives by around the first week of February.

Why Chinese research vessel is heading to the Maldives?

China's need may have been necessitated after Sri Lanka put a moratorium on the entry of Chinese research vessels for a year. It is also worth mentioning that there has been ongoing friction between India and Maldives over Indian troops stationed there.

Earlier, Sri Lanka had turned down a request by China to allow Xiang Yang Hong 3 to call on Sri Lankan ports by early 2024 to conduct a survey.

The development follows the visit of Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu's five-day state visit to China earlier this month. Also, later this month, Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Vice-Minister of the International Department will be visiting the Maldives.

The CCP’s Sun Haiyan called on Muizzu on Monday, less than a fortnight after the Maldivian leader’s return from China, during which he agreed to “elevate” strategic ties with the Maldives.

On his return from China, Muizzu announced a 15 March deadline for the removal of Indian soldiers, while New Delhi has said discussion on the matter is “ongoing”.

The Foreign Ministers of India and Maldives met in Uganda, on the sidelines of the Non-Alignment Movement [NAM] summit. After the meeting, India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said he held a “frank conversation” with his Maldivian counterpart Moosa Zameer, who said, “We exchanged views on the ongoing high-level discussions on the withdrawal of Indian military personnel.”

Steady rise in Chinese research vessels in IOR

As per reports, there has been steady rise in the deployment of Chinese research vessels in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and the general area of deployment has been observed around the Ninety Degree East Ridge and Southwest Indian Ridge.

The research or survey vessels have powerful equipment for snooping and gathering a range of data, The Hindu said in a report.

Chinese presence in the IOR began in 2008 under the garb of anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden. The country has since maintained continuous presence in the region and has even deploying nuclear attack submarines (SSNs) on occasion.

An Indian Navy representative informed the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence in April 2023 that China has grown from having 250 to more than 350 navy ships becoming the largest navy in the world in just over a decade.

It was further informed that China's operations have also expanded and at any point of time, five to nine ships are operating in the IOR in addition to their research vessels, which can influence our security, the representative informed.