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Days after island neighbour allowed docking of Chinese research vessel Shi Yan 6 at Colombo port despite India’s concerns, Indian Navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar met Sri Lanka Navy’s Vice Admiral Priyantha Perera and discussed modalities of increasing maritime co-operation.
The meeting between the two took place on the sidelines of Goa Maritime Conclave 2023 where both “discussed modalities for increasing maritime cooperation in the field of hydrography, training and capability enhancement and progress of various capacity building project,” the Indian Navy posted on X. Defence analysist suspect China has been using dual use ‘research ships’ to spy in the Indian Ocean Region, where India also has its strategic assets and interests.
Later, Vice-Admiral Priyantha Perera, Commander of Sri Lanka Navy, held bilateral discussion with Vice-Admiral Rajesh Pendharkar, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command, again on the sidelines of the Conclave, to further increase their friendly cooperation. Perera, however, was on official tour of India in May as well besides undergoing diving course in 1994 as a young Sri Lankan Navy Lieutenant.
Though the two navies have friendly maritime equations, given that both participate in joint and multilateral excises. Other than India trains their sailors and offers them humanitarian, logistics and infrastructure support. But, Colombo has been more than forthcoming to welcome Chinese vessels at the their docks in their bid to balance strategic relations between Beijing and Delhi, believe military experts.
Shi Yan 6, the vessel of Chinese Navy, docked on October 26 to carry out what Colombo said maritime survey with Sri Lanka’s National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) in their Exclusive Economic Zone. Indian Navy officials, however, stated that they keep a close eye on the movement of the Chinese vessels in the Indian Ocean Region and Indo Pacific Region to protect country’s geostrategic interests.
A PLA warship, Hai Yang 24 Hao had docked at Colombo port on August 10 for a formal port call, again overlooking India’s protest. Similarly, in 2022, Yuan Wang 5, ballistic missile and satellite tracking Chinese ship, had docked at Hambantota port, inviting strong reactions from Delhi.
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