Sri Lanka allows Chinese ship to visit port despite India's protests

NEW DELHI

Sri Lanka has granted permission for a Chinese research vessel to visit the country after initially deferring the planned trip due to pressure from neighboring India.

The Yuang Wang 5 will be at Hambantota port from Aug. 16-22, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

The vessel was originally due at the Chinese-built and -leased port in southern Sri Lanka on Aug. 11.

Colombo asked Beijing to postpone the visit amid “security concerns” raised by New Delhi, which fears the ship could spy on its military facilities and that China plans to use Hambantota as a military base.

Sri Lanka has given “clearance for replenishment purposes” after holding “extensive consultations at a high level through diplomatic channels with all parties … taking into account the interests of all parties concerned, and in line with the principle of sovereign equality of states,” the Foreign Ministry said.

The controversy comes as the island nation grapples with its worst-ever economic crisis and political turmoil that saw ex-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resign after fleeing the country amid mass protests in July.

During the last six months of Rajapaksa’s turbulent rule, India gave Sri Lanka nearly $4 billion in financial aid and material assistance.

Colombo has also borrowed heavily from Beijing in the past, most notably while Rajapaksa’s brother Mahinda was president from 2005 to 2015.

Sri Lanka “is deeply appreciative of the support, solidarity, and understanding of all countries, especially in the current juncture when the country is in the process of addressing severe economic challenges,” the Foreign Ministry said.

Colombo intends to “safeguard the legitimate interests of all countries in keeping with its international obligations,” it added, reiterating Sri Lanka’s policy of “cooperation and friendship with all countries.”

Amid simmering tensions, India’s Foreign Ministry said Sri Lanka was free to make its “own independent decisions,” while New Delhi reserves the right to protect its interests.

“With regards to our security concerns ... this is a sovereign right of each country. We will make the best judgment in our own interest,” ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said at a news briefing on Friday.

China last week said it was “completely unjustified” for India to “cite the so-called ‘security concerns’ to pressure Sri Lanka.”

“We urge the relevant parties to see China’s marine scientific research activities in a rational light and stop disrupting normal exchange and cooperation between China and Sri Lanka,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Aug. 8.