Visit by Chinese ship ‘Yuan Wang 5’: Sri Lankan minister hopes it would not be diplomatic issue

India

oi-Prakash KL

New
Delhi,
Aug
20:
Amid
India’s
concern
against
the
Chinese
ship
‘Yuan
Wang
5’ docking
at
Sri
Lanka’s
Hambantota,
the
island
nation’s
tourism
minister
Harin
Fernado
on
Saturday
said
that
he
hoped
it
would
not
impact
the
ties
between
the
two
countries
as
India
understands
its
situation.

Fernado,
who
is
in
Ahmedabad
to
promote
Lankan
tourism,
said
China
has
made
a
lot
of
investment
in
Sri
Lanka
and
has
been
“understanding
its
requirements
in
the
past.”
“Sri
Lanka
is
a
small
country,
and
Sri
Lanka
has
very
good
friendship
with
everyone.
I
am
sure
India
understands
that.
We
have
a
very
good
diplomatic
relationship
with
India,”
the
visiting
minister
said,
replying
to
a
question.

Indian
authorities
have
expressed
worries
about
the
ship’s
snooping
capability.

Fernado
said
Sri
Lanka’s
President
Ranil
Wickremesinghe
and
its
foreign
minister
were
in
constant
touch
with
Minister
of
External
Affairs
S
Jaishankar
and
Prime
Minister
Narendra
Modi.

“I
think
they
understand
our
situation,”
he
said.
“There
is
a
lot
of
investment
by
the
Chinese
in
Sri
Lanka
and
they
have
also
been
quite
understanding
of
our
requirements
in
the
past.
So
I
am
quite
hopeful
this
is
not
a
major
diplomatic
issue.
This
could
be
looked
into,”
he
further
said.

The
Chinese
ballistic
missile
and
satellite
tracking
ship
is
berthed
at
Sri
Lanka’s
southern
port
of
Hambantota
and
will
remain
docked
at
the
Chinese-run
port
till
August
22.
On
August
13,
the
Sri
Lankan
government
granted
port
access
to
the
vessel
from
August
16
to
22
on
condition
that
it
will
keep
the
Automatic
Identification
System
(AIS)
switched
on
within
the
Exclusive
Economic
Zone
(EEZ)
of
the
country
and
no
scientific
research
would
be
conducted
in
its
waters.
India
flagged
the
ship’s
technical
capability
and
expressed
worries
about
the
purpose
of
its
visit.

New
Delhi
was
concerned
about
the
possibility
of
the
ship’s
tracking
systems
attempting
to
snoop
on
Indian
installations.