Sri Lanka has informed India that it will not allow any Chinese research vessel to dock at its ports or operate within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) for one year.
No To Any Chinese Research Vessel In IOR
Sri Lanka has informed India that it will not allow any Chinese research vessel to dock at its ports or operate within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) for a period of one year. The move comes after PM Modi urged President Ranil Wickremesinghe to respect Indian strategic and security concerns. Sri Lanka’s decision means that the Chinese research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 3 will not be granted clearance to conduct deep water exploration in the south Indian Ocean.
The move comes close on the heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging President Ranil Wickremesinghe to respect Indian strategic and security concerns during their meeting on July 21, 2023. This means that Chinese scientific research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 3, which was scheduled to conduct “deep water exploration” in the south Indian Ocean from January 5, 2024, to late May, will not be granted a clearance by Sri Lankan authorities.
EEZ
An exclusive economic zone, as prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is an area of the sea in which a sovereign state has exclusive rights regarding the exploration and use of marine resources, including energy production from water and wind. It stretches from the outer limit of the territorial sea (22.224 km) out 370.4 km from the coast of the state in question. It is also referred to as a maritime continental margin and, in colloquial usage, may include the continental shelf.
China has also asked the current pro-Beijing Mohammed Muizzu regime in Maldives to let the 4,600-tonne Xiamen-based vessel conduct a survey off the coast of Male. This year, at least 25 Chinese ships including PLA warships, submarines, ballistic missile trackers and research vessels operated in the IOR, much to the chagrin of India and the US. Since 2019, a total of 48 Chinese scientific research vessels have been deployed in IOR. Their generic area of activity has been near the east and west coastlines of India, and in the deep Indian Ocean.
