'Well-equipped to handle challenges': India's warning as Sri Lanka allows Chinese ship to dock in its waters

Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Sunday asserted that India is well equipped to handle any kind of challenges that may arise in the wake of Sri Lanka allowing a high-tech Chinese 'spy' ship to dock in its waters.

His statement comes a day after the island nation said that it has allowed a Chinese military ship to anchor at the Hambantota port from August 16 till 22 for "replenishment purposes," amidst India's concerns over the presence of the vessel in the neighbourhood. 

"We are well equipped and well prepared to handle any kind of situation effectively under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. That is clear," Sonowal said. The Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways was responding to a question from reporters here.

To another query regarding Indian cargo ships depending on Colombo port, which acts as a transshipment hub in the Eastern coast, he said, "The Ministry is very much committed to developing a transshipment hub on the Indian coasts. We have declared it earlier also."

Chennai Port Trust Chairman Sunil Paliwal intervened to say, India already responded strongly on the issue relating to the Chinese ship and cautioned that "security situation of a country should not be discussed like this."

On the development of infrastructure at Ports across the country, the Union Minister said, "We have already started to develop our infrastructure in Paradip, Vishakapatnam and also in Chennai Port. We are also planning to develop infrastructure in Tuticorin port..."

Sonowal said his Ministry has planned to set up a new fishing harbour in Paradip Port, Vishakapatnam and also Chennai Port 'within a short span of time'.

"We have already sanctioned Rs 99 crore to Chennai (Port Trust) for the fishing harbour", he said.

Earlier this month, it was reported that facing pressure from India, Sri Lanka had blocked the proposed visit by a Chinese “spy vessel” to the Hambantota Port. Sri Lanka Foreign Ministry had asked the Chinese embassy in Colombo to “defer” the arrival of the Yuan Wang 5, a military vessel, “until further consultations”. 

While the protest by India silenced the issue for a while, New Delhi remained concerned over the language used in Lanka’s communique to China, also known as “third party note”, which suggested that the issue was still open for discussion.

In 2014, a similar situation had unfolded when two Chinese submarines docked at Hambantota Port, leading to a tense situation. Back then, Beijing had not even informed Lanka, let alone India, that they had sent a submarine. 

Other than Beijing’s continued build-up in the Indian Ocean waters, India’s has remained suspicious of its growing influence on Sri Lanka, which which owes large amounts of money to Beijing for infrastructure projects, including the USD 1.4-billion Hambantota Port.

China’s unproductive projects in Sri Lanka, including the Hambantota Port, which Beijing took over on lease as a debt swap, had come under sharp criticism. 

China, which accounts for 10 per cent of Sri Lanka’s debt, is reported to have resisted offering a debt cut, despite the latter facing an unprecedented economic crisis which led to severe shortages of fuel, cooking gas and medicines, anti-government protests and the ouster of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa last month.