{"id":78978,"date":"2022-08-13T00:27:07","date_gmt":"2022-08-13T04:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=78978"},"modified":"2022-08-13T22:41:40","modified_gmt":"2022-08-14T02:41:40","slug":"sri-lanka-grants-permission-for-chinese-space-and-satellite-tracking-vessel-yuan-wang-5-to-dock-on-august-16-at-hambantota-port-subject-to-conditions-that-the-visiting-chinese-vessels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=78978","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka Grants Permission for Chinese space and satellite tracking vessel “Yuan Wang 5” to dock on August 16 at Hambantota port subject to conditions that the visiting Chinese vessel\u2019s Automatic Identification System (AIS) must be kept switched on within the EEZ of Sri Lanka and that no scientific research be conducted in Sri Lankan waters."},"content":{"rendered":"

By<\/p>\n

Meera Srinivasan <\/strong><\/p>\n

Sri Lanka on Saturday cleared the arrival of Chinese space and satellite tracking vessel Yuan Wang 5 on August 16 at the southern Hambantota port, a day after New Delhi reiterated its security concerns over the vessel\u2019s visit earlier scheduled on August 11.<\/p>\n

Even as Colombo was put on a delicate diplomatic spot, dealing with two of its close partners with competing geostrategic interests in the island, Sri Lanka\u2019s fresh approval, announced by its Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement, effectively points to a five-day postponement of the arrival of the Chinese ship, and a week\u2019s stop as was earlier planned.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Ministry said it held \u201cextensive consultations\u201d at a high level through diplomatic channels with \u201call parties\u201d concerned, with a view to resolving the matter in a spirit of \u201cfriendship, mutual trust and constructive dialogue, taking into account the interests of all parties concerned\u201d. While it said the developments were \u201cin light of certain concerns raised with the Ministry\u201d, it stopped short of naming India in its statement. \u201cHaving considered all material in place, on 13 August 2022 the clearance to the Embassy of the People\u2019s Republic of China was conveyed for the deferred arrival of the vessel from 16-22 August 2022,\u201d the Ministry said, confirming the development, and the duration of the vessel to be berthed at the southern Hambantota Port.<\/p>\n

Further, the Ministry stated that when it had cleared the scheduled visit earlier in July, it was based on the Defence Ministry\u2019s conditions that the visiting Chinese vessel\u2019s Automatic Identification System (AIS) be kept switched on within the EEZ of Sri Lanka and that no scientific research be conducted in Sri Lankan waters.<\/p>\n

The development comes after New Delhi raised the matter with President Ranil Wickremesinghe, and made public remarks twice at the Ministry of External Affairs\u2019s weekly briefing on July 28, and more recently, on Friday. India \u201ccarefully monitors any development having a bearing on its security and economic interests\u201d, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi earlier said, and on Friday \u201crejected insinuations\u201d that Sri Lanka was \u201cpressured\u201d. New Delhi’s remarks came days after China asked India to \u201cnot disturb normal exchanges\u201d between Sri Lanka and China, and termed India\u2019s security concerns over the vessel visit \u201csenseless\u201d.<\/p>\n

India gifts Dornier aircraft<\/strong><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Indian Air force has gifted a Dornier 228 Maritime Patrol Aircraft to the Sri Lankan Air Force (SLAF), and another aircraft is to be donated within two years, SLAF has said. The aircraft is expected to be handed over in a formal ceremony on August 15, in the presence of Mr. Wickremesinghe. The gesture, according to the SLAF, was in response to a request made by the Sri Lankan government to India in 2018 for two Dornier reconnaissance aircrafts to enhance the island\u2019s maritime surveillance capabilities.<\/p>\n

In March this year, Sri Lanka\u2019s Defence Ministry announced signing of two maritime pacts with India, through which Sri Lanka was to receive a Floating Dock Facility and a Dornier reconnaissance aircraft at no cost. The agreements \u201cwill not result in hindrance or threat to the national security of Sri Lanka,\u201d the Defence Ministry then said, amid criticism from the political opposition over the apparent secrecy of the agreements, signed without any official announcement.<\/p>\n

CourtesyLThe Hindu<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Meera Srinivasan Sri Lanka on Saturday cleared the arrival of Chinese space and satellite tracking vessel Yuan Wang 5 on August 16 at the southern Hambantota port, a day after New Delhi reiterated its security concerns over the vessel\u2019s visit earlier scheduled on August 11. Even as Colombo was put on a delicate diplomatic …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Sri Lanka Grants Permission for Chinese space and satellite tracking vessel “Yuan Wang 5” to dock on August 16 at Hambantota port subject to conditions that the visiting Chinese vessel\u2019s Automatic Identification System (AIS) must be kept switched on within the EEZ of Sri Lanka and that no scientific research be conducted in Sri Lankan waters.’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78978"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=78978"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78979,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78978\/revisions\/78979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=78978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=78978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=78978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}