Government to monitor situation, says MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi

 India on Chinese ship docked at SL port

NEW DELHI: On media reports of a Chinese ship arriving in Sri Lanka's port, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, on Friday, said that he would emphasize the government to carefully monitor any development having a bearing on India's security interests and to take necessary measures.

“I've seen reports of a Chinese ship there. I'm not sure whether it is a warship or not. I will only say that having seen these reports, I would emphasize the government carefully monitors any development having a bearing on India's security interests and takes all necessary measures to defend them,” Bagchi said while addressing a weekly briefing.

This reaction came after the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy warship HAI YANG 24 HAO arrived at the port of Colombo on Thursday morning, according to Sri Lankan based news site Adaderana. The 129-metre long ship which arrived in Colombo is manned by a crew of 138 and it is commanded by Commander Jin Xin. Meanwhile, the ship is scheduled to depart the island on August 12, the Sri Lanka Navy said.

Earlier, on August 16, 2022, China's satellite tracking vessel Yuan Wang 5 arrived at Sri Lanka's southern Hambantota Port. India had expressed its security concerns over the docking of the vessel at Hambantota as it was shown as a research vessel while the spy ship can map the ocean bed which is critical to anti-submarine operations of the Chinese Navy.

Notably, Hambantota port, located around 250 km from Colombo was built with high-interest Chinese loans. The Sri Lankan government struggled to repay the debt they had taken from China following which the port was handed over to the Chinese on a 99-year lease. (ANI)

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