By
Sulochana Ramiah Mohan
The arrival of another Chinese submarine, Changzheng-2 and a warship, Chang Xing Dao, at the Colombo Port on Friday, has raised eyebrows in diplomatic circles with India focusing attention on its security, Ceylon Today learns.
This is the third submarine that has arrived from China this year, it has been revealed.
The submarine had arrived at the port along with warship Chang Xing Dao, which is its security escort and has docked at the Colombo harbour till 6 November.
Last week, unable to withstand the increased military ties with China, India invited Sri Lanka Navy chief, Vice Admiral Jayantha Perera to India to express their concerns.
The Navy chief, who was in New Dehli, on a five-day visit, assured that Sri Lanka will do nothing to compromise the security of its regional neighbours.
He also stressed that there was no Chinese military presence in Colombo.
Navy Spokesperson Commander Kosala Warnakulasuriya, when contacted for further information on the submarine, said that it was not unusual as there had been more than 200 warships and submarines arriving at the Colombo Port on goodwill tours, refueling purposes and on logistic matters in the past four years.
He said that the submarine arrived at the port for crew relaxation and refueling purposes.
He added that in naval diplomacy, which port the submarine came from or what its next port call is, cannot be revealed.
He also explained that he has no details of the number of Chinese crew that arrived in both vessels.
Commander Warnakulasuriya explained that there were no nuclear submarines arriving in Sri Lanka and this submarine was also a conventional submarine operated on diesel and battery. He the Navy Spokesperson also added that there is no reason why people should panic over submarines coming.
The Navy chief was accorded a Guard of Honour on his arrival at the South Block. He thereafter called on the CNS, Admiral R.K. Dhowan and met officials in the Ministry of Defence and the National Security Adviser.
He also travelled to the Headquarters of the Eastern and Southern Naval Commands and had visited various training and operational facilities at Vishakhapatnam and Kochi, India’s Minister of External Affairs website reported.
The Times of India recently wrote that the docking of the submarine on a long-range deployment patrol was yet another indicator of the ever-increasing forays of the People’s Liberation Army-Navy into the Indian Ocean Region.
The Navy spokesperson added that India ‘understood well’ the China presence, however, Defence Adviser attached to the Indian High Commission, Captain Prakash Gopalan, declined to comment on the latest Chinese sub that arrived Friday.
Courtesy:Ceylon Today