Has Sri Lanka allowed Chinese ship to dock in Colombo? Why are India, US wary?

China’s influence on Sri Lanka has given India reasons to worry. Even the United States is wary. The recent concern is over a Chinese research vessel, Shi Yan 6, which is expected to dock in Colombo. If Sri Lankan foreign minister Ali Sabry is to be believed, the island nation has not permitted the Chinese vessel to stay after security concerns were raised by New Delhi. But now the ship has reportedly entered the Indian Ocean.

What’s going on? What games are Colombo and Beijing playing? We take a look.

What do we know about the Chinese vessel?

The Shi Yan 6 ship’s current location is mid-ocean 90 East Ridge in the Indian Ocean and it is heading towards Sri Lanka, according to a report in The Hindustan Times.

The vessel is likely to conduct joint military scientific research in the Sri Lankan exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the area of the ocean in which a coastal nation has rights regarding the exploration, in October and November. Researchers affiliated with Sri Lanka’s National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) are expected to start a scientific expedition aboard Shi Yan 6. Their primary aim is to conduct an extensive survey encompassing the EEZ and the region of the southern Indian Ocean, a Live Mint report points out.

“Organised by the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology (SCSIO) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the vessel is scheduled to operate at sea for 80 days with 28 scientific research projects from 13 research teams onboard, covering a range of more than 12,000 nautical miles (roughly 22,200 km),” China’s state-run news channel CGTN reported earlier this month.

For over a month, India has been keeping a close eye on the ship. It entered the Indian Ocean via the Malacca Straits on 23 September. It was spotted in Singapore on 14 September after leaving its homeport Guangzhou on 10 September.

Shi Yan 6 was part of a key project of China’s 13th five-year plan for science and education infrastructure construction. It has a substantial weight of 3,999 tonnes with an overall length of 90.6 metres and a width of 17 metres. It is a “scientific research vessel” with a 60-member crew, which carries out oceanography, marine geology and marine ecology tests, reports AFP.

The project leader of the voyage was quoted in the Chinese media as saying, “The Indian Ocean is one of the oceans we know least about so far. One of the fundamental reasons is the lack of sufficient on-site observations.”

What are India’s concerns?

India has raised concerns with Sri Lanka over the issue of maritime security several times. The proximity of the island nation to southern India and the presence of Chinese vessels, which are notorious for spying, has been a growing worry for New Delhi.

Chinese “research ships” are said to usually have “dual purposes”, says The Tribune in a report. While the primary aim is scientific exploration, what concerns other nations is the geopolitical purposes for which they are also deployed.

The Hindu reports that Indian officials expressed concerns over Shi Yan 6 with Colombo.

What has the United States said?

The US has also expressed concerns to Sri Lanka about the vessel. During a recent meeting, US undersecretary for political affairs, Victoria Nuland, discussed the upcoming visit of Shi Yan 6 with Sri Lanka’s foreign minister Ali Sabray.

Sabray reportedly told Nuland that Sri Lanka would comply with a “standard operating procedure”, which the government has recently finalised on all foreign vessels visiting Sri Lankan waters and aircraft carrying out any activity in its territory. As part of their “even-handed approach”, they could not “exclude China”.

Has Sri Lankan given permission to the ship?

The possible nod to Shi Yan 6 to stay in Lankan waters until November comes after Sri Lankan president Ranil Wickremesinghe visited India in July. The discussion of China came up during a private lunch he held with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Lankan leader assured the PM that Colombo would be sensitive to India’s strategic and security concerns.

However, it seems like Lanka has backtracked on its promises. But the signals sent by Colombo are mixed.

Sabry on Monday said that Colombo has not permitted the Chinese vessel to dock, adding that Indian security concerns are “important” for Sri Lanka. Asked about reports regarding Shi Yan 6, 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.

However, the ship is now heading towards Colombo raising the hackles of New Delhi.

A month ago, President Wickremesinghe told an American think tank that there are no Chinese spy ships in Sri Lanka and there were no problems in docking permission if the vessel followed SOPs laid down by Sri Lanka.

How many Chinese ships are in Sri Lanka?

The case of Shi Yan 6 is not an isolated one. Several Chinese vessels continue to dock in Lankan ports despite security concerns.

In August last year, another Chinese research ship Yuan Wang 5 was allowed to dock in Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port despite New Delhi’s concern. The permission was given with the condition that it would not research while in Sri Lankan waters. The island nation had earlier asked China to postpone to arrival of the hi-tech vessel but later took a U-turn.

India was worried that the vessel would spy on its activities. Yuan Wang 5 is used to track satellite, rocket and intercontinental ballistic missile launches. India feared that its significant aerial reach — reportedly around 750 km —meant that several ports in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh would be snooped upon along with vital installations in south India.

Since 2019 as many as 48 Chinese scientific research vessels have been deployed in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) with the general area of deployment being the Bay of Bengal and south as well as the Arabian Sea towards the Persian Gulf, reports Hindustan Times.

What is Sri Lanka’s relationship with China?

Sri Lanka is a victim of China’s debt trap diplomacy. Beijing is the biggest bilateral creditor to the island nation. Sri Lanka owed China’s EXIM $4.1 billion, or 11 per cent of the country’s foreign currency debt, at the end of 2022, according to government data.

Over the last 15 years, China has built extensive infrastructure projects in the south of the island. The development of the Hambantota port, which sits on the route connecting Southeast Asia with Africa and West Asia, was funded largely by China.

Sri Lanka’s economic crisis was triggered by high-interest loans and infrastructure projects under China’s Road and Belt Initiative, which were funded by EXIM during the reign of the Rajapaksas. During this time Wickremesinghe served as Cabinet minister and prime minister. He gave the Hambantota port to China on a 99-year lease after Sri Lanka could not repay the loans.

Now Lanka continues to be indebted to China and is finding it hard to play the balancing act with New Delhi and Beijing.

With inputs from agencies