New Delhi: Reacting to the docking of the suspicious Chinese vessel in Sri Lanka, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said that India is monitoring the developments in the island country.
Speaking at the press conference in Bangkok, Jaishankar said, "What happens in our neighbourhood, any development which has a bearing on our security we are monitoring it very very carefully." He was speaking at the 9th India-Thailand Joint Commission Meeting in Bangkok.
Jaishankar addressed the press conference along with his Thai counterpart Don Pramudwinai after the joint commission meeting. "I think a spokesman had said some time ago, we obviously monitor any development, which has a bearing on our interests very, very carefully. So, I think I will leave at that," he said.
During the meeting, India and Thailand signed two Memorandum of Understandings, including one on health and another on broadcasting. The Chinese spy vessel Wang Yuan 5 docked in Sri Lankan waters has raised concern in Delhi which is cautiously perceiving Beijing's increasing presence in the Indian Ocean region and influence in Sri Lanka.
Also read: Chinese spy ship docked at Hambantota unlikely to dent Indo Lanka ties, says expert
China's satellite tracking vessel arrived in the Hambantota port of Sri Lanka on August 16, Tuesday despite India and the US voicing their concerns. This development has sparked worry in India and New Delhi and Colombo are currently witnessing their ties going down the hill.
Hours after the Chinese spy vessel arrived in Sri Lanka, China said the “marine scientific research” activities of the vessel were “consistent with international law” and did not impact “any other country’s security interests”.
Asked about Delhi’s concerns and the delay in the visit of the Chinese ship, Qi Zhenhong, Beijing’s envoy in Sri Lanka, who was present at the Hambantota port on Tuesday during the ship’s arrival, told reporters, “I don’t know, you should ask the Indian friends… I don’t know. Maybe this is life.”
Meanwhile, India had rejected China’s insinuations that New Delhi pressured Colombo against a planned visit by a Chinese research vessel to the Sri Lankan port of Hambantota but asserted that it will take decisions based on its security.
Last week in a press briefing, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said Sri Lanka, as a sovereign country, makes its own independent decisions and noted that India would make its judgment on its security concerns based on the prevailing situation in the region, especially in the border areas, seen as a veiled reference to the eastern Ladakh row.
