Chinese vessel in Maldives solely for promoting peaceful objectives, scientific research, says Beijing

The Chinese foreign ministry on Tuesday assured that the research conducted by a Chinese vessel docking at a Maldives port is solely aimed at promoting peaceful objectives and advancing scientific knowledge, according to a Reuters report. In a statement issued in January, Maldivian foreign ministry had said that the arrival of the research vessel, Xiang Yang Hong 3, in the island nation is primarily for personnel rotation and replenishment. The expected arrival of a Chinese research ship in the Maldives this week has escalated tensions between Beijing, Delhi and Male. The presence of the vessel is likely to raise the concern of India, which has previously viewed such vessels close to its shores as problematic. Officially, the vessel Xiang Yang Hong 3 is there to “make a port call, for rotation of personnel and replenishment”. In short, an entirely innocuous stop. But that is not how it is being seen in Delhi. Instead, the ship’s presence is at the very least a diplomatic snub. At worst, some fear, it could be a mission to collect data which could - at a later date - be used by the Chinese military in submarine operations, according to a BBC report. China experts, however, have shrugged off their concerns. “The Chinese ships carry out scientific research work in the Indian ocean. Its activities on the high sea are entirely legitimate,” BBC quoted Zhou Bo, a former People’s Liberation Army Senior Colonel, as saying. The vessel left the Chinese port of Sanya, located in its southernmost province of Hainan, on 16 January and is scheduled to reach Malé on 8 February, according to Marine Traffic. The ship is expected to explore the southern Indian Ocean for five months from January to May this year. On 3 January, Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu gave permission to Chinese research vessels to dock in the Maldives “despite sustained pressure from the Indian government”, Sri Lanka Guardian reported. The green signal by Muizzu came days before his state visit to China and followed Maldivian vice-president Hussain Mohamed Latheef’s visit to China last December, to attend the ‘China-Indian Ocean Region Forum on Development Cooperation’ organised by China International Development Cooperation Agency. India had raised objections with the governments of Sri Lanka and the Maldives regarding the docking of Xiang Yang Hong 03 in their ports, Hindustan Times reported last month. Allowing the Chinese ship to dock in the Maldives despite Indian objections seems another effort by the Muizzu administration to sideline India. The island nation had earlier this month announced a $37-million deal to purchase Turkish-made military drones to patrol the high seas — a task presently done by India in partnership with the Maldivian defence forces, as reported by The Print. With inputs from agencies