Saturday , November 9 2024

India alert as Chinese spy ship reaches Maldives

A Chinese research ship has reached Maldives amid security concerns in the Indian Ocean. This has increased India's concern. A Chinese research ship reached Maldives on Thursday night. Concern has been expressed over Beijing's activities in the Indian Ocean. A Chinese spy ship made a similar voyage in the Indian Ocean about three months ago, according to global ship tracking data. And increased India's security concerns. Now after strained relations, this Chinese ship has reached Maldives.

The visit followed comments by a US think tank in January. The Chinese Navy wants to take advantage of the information received from this mission for its deployment. He claims that China is being presented as a threat to tarnish Beijing's image. According to maritime traffic data, China's Ministry of Natural Resources reported that an exploration firm called the Jiang Yang Hong03 to leave its home port in Malé, the capital of the Maldives. Before its arrival, the ship spent more than three weeks surveying the waters just outside the exclusive economic zones of India, the Maldives and Sri Lanka, according to ship tracking data.

China said it was a scientific research purpose

China's Foreign Ministry said the ship was exclusively for peaceful purposes of scientific exploration and scientific understanding. In recent years, India has expressed concern over the presence of Chinese scientific vessels in the Indian Ocean. Even if he is not related to the army. An Indian security official had earlier said that the ship was dual-use. Which means it can use the data collected for both civilian and military purposes. It is noteworthy that China's Jiang Yang Hong03 has visited the Indian Ocean several times. There is suspicion of espionage from this ship.

Indonesia is also worried

Indonesia is also troubled by this Chinese spy ship. As it passed through the Mediterranean Sea off Sunda, Indonesia in 2021, Indonesian officials were concerned. He said that due to this his tracking system was blocked three times. A Chinese research ship stopped in Sri Lanka. In 2022, Yuan Wang-5, a naval ship capable of monitoring rocket and missile launches, arrived in Colombo. At that time India had also expressed concern. A Chinese research ship last visited Sri Lanka in October-2023. In which India's concern increased once again. But in January, the archipelago imposed a one-year ban on foreign research vessels. This effectively deprived China of port calls.