New Delhi is concerned about a Chinese ship that docked at Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port on Tuesday morning. Notably, this port was leased to China Merchant Port Holdings for 99 years by the Sri Lankan government. The ship is reportedly equipped with technologies that can track missiles and satellites, and the Indian government feels that this might be a threat to its national security. Notably, Sri Lanka had earlier asked China to postpone the ship’s docking after India raised security concerns.
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The ship, Yuan Wang 5, was set to be at the dock for five days, but will now stay for six days reportedly. India is concerned about the fact that the ship might be used by the Xi Jinping government in order to learn more about the country’s missiles and where they are placed. Notably, for more than a month, the ship did not make any single stop for replenishment before it arrived in Sri Lanka.
India has also reminded the island nation of its substantial contribution in helping the Sri Lankan economy when it was collapsing. However, when Sri Lanka, which counts both India and China among its allies, allowed the ship to dock, former member of India’s national security advisory board, Brahma Chellany, said, “When a small, bankrupt nation like Sri Lanka delivers a diplomatic slap to New Delhi by hosting a Chinese surveillance ship at its commercial port of Hambantota, it is a stunning reminder of both India’s feckless foreign policy and receding influence in its strategic backyard”.
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This is not the first time that New Delhi’s relationship with Colombo has hit a rough patch. Earlier in 2014, a Chinese nuclear submarine was also allowed to dock at the same port. Sri Lankan authorities then revealed that it had asked the submarine to keep its Automatic Identification System switched on at all times.