On a day when military ships from India and Sri Lanka reached the Maldives coast to participate in a trilateral naval exercise, a Chinese research vessel moored close to the Male port, according to media reports on Thursday.
“The Chinese research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 03 was moored close to Male City this morning. Around noon, the ship was shown to be near Thilafushi,” news portal Edition.mv reported, quoting the Marine Traffic website that tracks all ocean liners across the globe.
On January 23, the Maldives government permitted the research vessel, equipped to carry research and surveys, to dock at Male port, saying the halt was for replenishment and that the research Vessel would “not be conducting any research while in the Maldivian waters.”
India has expressed concern about the movement of the Xiang Yang Hong 03 vessel in Indian Ocean waters and also prevailed on Sri Lanka to refuse permission for the ship to dock at Colombo port.
Mohamed Muizzu, widely seen as a pro-China leader, won last year’s presidential election on an ‘anti-India’ stance. He visited Beijing in January to meet China’s top leadership and has vowed to further step up bilateral ties.
In February, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said the ship’s activities complied with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).