By Osman Khan

On Friday China defended its military ship’s scheduled visit to Sri Lanka and said that it hoped the “concerned parties” would desist from meddling with its genuine maritime actions after New Delhi raised serious concern over a Chinese military ship’s planned visit to a port in India’s southern neighbor Sri Lanka.

India fears that the Chinese-built and leased port of Hambantota will be used by China as a military base in India’s backyard. The $1.5 billion port is near the main shipping route from Asia to Europe.

Shipping data from Refinitiv Eikon showed Chinese research and survey vessel Yuan Wang 5 was en route to Hambantota and due to arrive on Aug. 11, at a time when Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis in seven decades. India has provided Sri Lanka with nearly $4 billion in support this year alone.

On Thursday during a weekly briefing late, an Indian foreign ministry spokesman said the government was monitoring the planned visit of the Chinese ship, adding that New Delhi would protect its security and economic interests.

India has already lodged an oral protest and compliant with the Sri Lankan government against the ship’s plan to visit. In response, China’s foreign ministry said Beijing had always exercised freedom of the high seas lawfully. China hopes that the relevant parties will view and report on China’s marine scientific research activities correctly and refrain from interfering with normal and legitimate maritime activities.

Relations between India and China have been strained since armed clashes on their border two years ago killed at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers and led to a massive build-up of troops on both sides.

Foreign security analysts describe the Yuan Wang 5 as one of China’s latest generation space-tracking ships, used to monitor satellite, rocket, and intercontinental ballistic missile launches. The Pentagon’s annual report on China’s military modernization says the Yuan Wang ships are operated by the Strategic Support Force of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

The Yuan Wang 5 would be in Hambantota for a week and “conduct space tracking, satellite control, and research tracking in the northwestern part of the Indian Ocean region through August and September”.

According to reliable sources, the Yuan Wang 5 would be in Hambantota for a week and "conduct space tracking, satellite control and research tracking in the northwestern part of the Indian Ocean region through August and September".

Sri Lanka formally handed over commercial activities at its main southern port to a Chinese company in 2017 on the lease after struggling to repay its debt.

Sri Lanka formally handed over marketable activities at its key southern port to a Chinese company in 2017 on the lease after struggling to reimburse its debt. China is one of Sri Lanka’s biggest lenders and has also funded airports, roads, and railways. This frightened India, which is now desperately trying to back lose ground. Sri Lanka infuriated India in 2014 when it permitted a Chinese submarine and a warship to dock in Colombo.

Beijing is Sri Lanka’s lone main creditor, accounting for some 10 percent of the country’s foreign debt. Between 2000 and 2020, it stretched close to $12 billion in loans to the Sri Lankan government, chiefly for a slate of significant infrastructure projects that were for no use.

It includes a costly port facility in the hometown of Hambantota, which was effectively surrendered to Chinese control half a decade ago after Sri Lankan authorities acknowledged they could no longer pay off the loans. Sri Lanka has become a warning saga of misgovernment and misfortune in South Asia. The outcome of the extravagances of the former president along with a mistaken economic plan changed Sri Lanka into financial bankruptcy.