SENDS SPY VESSEL TO SRI LANKA

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 8/8/2022 12:51:00 PM

T K NANDANAN CHINA A spy vessel is being sent to Sri Lanka by China as per the information received by India. Taking into consideration of this serios matter, New Delhi acted swiftly and has urged Sri Lanka to ask China to indefinitely delay its visit to the island nation. According to Indian broadcaster CNN-News18, though the ship is described as a research and survey vessel, it is a dual-use spy ship employed for space and satellite tracking and with specific usage in intercontinental ballistic missile launches. The ship Yuan Wang 5 is en route from the Chinese port of Ji angyin and due in the Chinese-run Sri Lankan port of Hambantota on Thursday. Expectedly, New Delhi is worried that the vessel might be used to spy on its activities and that it lodged a complaint with Colombo. Of late, China has been very aggressively reconnoitring sinceit locked horns with the U.S over the visit of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan. It may be recalled that China was able to step in to Sri Lanka following Sri Lanka handing over the Hambantota port to China in 2017 as debt swap amounting to $1.2 billion for a 99 years’ lease. However, multiple petitions were filed in the Supreme Court by Opposition parties, civil society groups and labour unions against a proposed controversial legislation on the Colombo Port City alleging that the $1.4 billion project violated the country’s sovereignty, the Constitution and labour rights. It was alleged that the Port City commission to be established would be empowered under the Act to the detriment of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Sri Lanka. The Colombo Port City project, expected to play a key role in China’s ambitious ‘Maritime Silk Road’ project in India’s backyard, is said to be the single largest private sector development ever in the island. India is sceptical about China’s growing influence in Sri Lanka and the foreign ministry last week said that it would closely monitor any bearing on India’s security and economic interests and take all necessary measures to safeguard them. Meanwhile, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe assured political party leaders on Friday that the controversial visit would not go ahead as planned. In a sense, Sri Lanka feels it is being squeezed and pressurized by China and India on this crucial point. However, on the Taiwan issue China is being ostracised by the majority of the prominent nations of the world. Meanwhile, China fired several ballistic missiles into the waters around Taiwan as it launched large-scale military exercises in response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the self-ruled island. The missiles carried conventional warheads and all of them hit their targets accurately. The Taiwanese ministry of Defence confirmed the launches, identifying them as Dongfeng-class ballistic missiles. India’s earnest and successful effort in warding off the danger of approaching the Chinese spy vessel to the island nation shows that India can leverage its powerful position to India’s advantage in the region. Sri Lanka is our neighbour and China must not be allowed to take advantage of the economic crisis in that country any longer.

 

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