Sri Lanka allowed the ship Yuan Wang 5 to dock at Hambantota port

Chinese research tracking vessel ‘Yuan Wang 5’ is set to arrive at Hambantota port on August 16. The ship will remain in Sri Lankan waters till August 22 after the island nation has given permission for the ship to dock at the southern port.

According to senior Sri Lankan sources, the ship is expected to conduct control and research tracking via Chinese satellites in the northwestern Indian Ocean region between August and September.

The ship was earlier scheduled to arrive on August 11 and begin operations by August 17. However, after India raised serious security concerns, Sri Lanka requested China to change the ship’s itinerary. China, however, termed India’s concerns as “nonsense”.

Even the United States expressed concern over visits by Chinese ships to the island nation. US Ambassador to Sri Lanka Julie Chung met with President Ranil Wickremesinghe to raise concerns about her and her country.

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Following this, Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabri asked both India and the US to give “specific reasons” for their objections.

The island government on Friday allegedly failed to allow the Chinese ship to enter its territorial waters and to give “reasons” to both India and the US for their objections.

The ship, which is about 600 nautical miles at sea, is now fast approaching the Hambantota port.