India Pays Close Attention To Security Issues: On A Chinese Spy Ship, S. Jaishankar

On Wednesday, August 17, a day after a contentious Chinese’spy’ ship docked in Sri Lanka, Union Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar stated that India is closely watching the security developments in its neighbourhood.

At a news briefing, when asked about the Chinese “research and survey” vessel, Jaishankar responded, “Whatever happens in our neighbourhood, any development, which has an impact on our security challenges, is of interest to us.

The Controversy

On Tuesday morning, a contentious Chinese “research and survey” vessel arrived in Sri Lanka’s southern port of Hambantota. According to Sri Lankan officials, the Chinese ship would be berthed at the port in southern Sri Lanka until August 22 for replenishing.

Originally, the ship was scheduled to arrive at Sri Lanka’s Chinese-run Hambantota port on August 11. The Sri Lankan defence ministry asked the Chinese embassy in Colombo to postpone the ship’s arrival, nevertheless, when India expressed its worries.

The operations of Yuan Wang 5 “do not threaten the security and economic interests of any country and should not be blocked by any third party,” according to Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, on Tuesday.

The government carefully watches every development having an impact on India’s security and economic interests and takes all necessary precautions to preserve them, according to Arindam Bagchi, a spokesperson for the Indian External Affairs Ministry, before the ship arrived.