Sri Lanka says it will not ban any foreign research ships from its ports from next year

Sri Lanka has determined to carry from subsequent yr a ban on the go to of overseas analysis ships imposed after sturdy safety issues raised by India and the US following frequent docking requests from hi-tech Chinese language surveillance vessels, the Japanese media reported. The change in place was conveyed by visiting Sri Lankan Overseas Minister Ali Sabry to the NHK World Japan.

With the elevated motion of Chinese language analysis vessels within the Indian Ocean, New Delhi had expressed concern that these could be spy ships and urged Colombo to not enable such vessels to dock at its ports.

After India raised concern, Sri Lanka banned the entry of overseas analysis vessels from docking at its port in January. Earlier this yr, it had made an exception for a Chinese language vessel however mentioned the ban would proceed in any other case. Sabry mentioned his authorities can’t have completely different guidelines for various international locations and solely block China. He added that his nation won’t take sides in a dispute between others, the NHK World Japan mentioned in a report on Friday.

The moratorium is until January subsequent yr. Sri Lanka will then now not ban overseas analysis ships from its ports subsequent yr, Sabry mentioned.

Two Chinese language spy ships have been allowed to dock in Sri Lanka ports inside 14 months by way of November 2023, with one known as for replenishment and the opposite for analysis. Chinese language analysis ship Shi Yan 6 arrived in Sri Lanka in October 2023 and docked at Colombo port, for what Beijing cited as “geophysical scientific analysis” in collaboration with the island nation’s Nationwide Aquatic Assets Analysis and Growth Company (NARA). The US had expressed concern to Sri Lanka earlier than the arrival of Shi Yan 6.

In August 2022, Chinese language navy vessel Yuan Wang 5 docked at Hambantota in southern Sri Lanka for replenishment.

Money-strapped Sri Lanka considers each India and China equally necessary companions in its job to restructure its exterior debt.

The island nation was hit by an unprecedented monetary disaster in 2022, the worst since its independence from Britain in 1948, as a consequence of a extreme paucity of overseas trade reserves.

In the meantime, Sabry additionally expressed gratitude for Japan’s plan to offer a ship geared up with sonar, which, he mentioned, will give Sri Lanka “a possibility to do its personal survey and gather its personal information, and commercially exploit it.”

Sabry emphasised that Sri Lanka has untapped maritime assets, and analysis is important, nevertheless it needs to be carried out in a clear method, the NHK report added. Situated at a strategic level within the Indian Ocean, the island nation is a crucial cease for marine site visitors between South East Asia and West Asia, which is a part of the worldwide commerce route.