Sri Lanka's Cabinet Spokesperson & Minister Bandula Gunawardena confirmed that the Chinese ballistic missiles and satellite tracking vessel was requested to delay their visit due to concerns voiced by India.
He said that a request was made from China to defer the arrival until Sri Lanka cleared out the concerns of its neighbor India.
"The Chinese government was awarded the same privileges awarded to any other country in order to seek services from Sri Lanka, and it is done in a manner that does cause harm to any third party," he told reporters in Colombo on Tuesday (16).
The Yuan Wang 5 entered the Hambantota deep sea port at around 8:30 AM on Tuesday (16). Yuan Wang 5 is a third-generation tracking ship of the Yuan Wang Series. It has top-of-the-line antennas and electronic equipment to track ballistic missiles and satellites.
A special welcome ceremony was organized at the Hambantota Port on Tuesday (16) morning, under the auspices of the Chinse Ambassador to Sri Lanka.
The Yuan Wang 5, a Chinese research and survey vessel that led to much controversy in recent weeks officially entered the Sea of Sri Lanka on Monday (15).
Sri Lanka granted permission for the high-tech Chinese tracking vessel Yuan Wang 5 to dock at the Hambantota Port in a backdrop marred with controversy.
Diplomatic clearance for the Chinese vessel to make a port call at the Hambantota port from 11-17 August 2022 for replenishment purposes was granted by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, however, due to concerns raised by various factions including India, the Ministry requested China to defer the visit of the said vessel to the Hambantota port.
However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not provide any reason for the request.
When the request to defer the visit of the vessel was made, the Yuan Wang 5 had already set sail to Sri Lanka leaving its port of origin on the 14th of July, and it was already in the Indian Ocean. The vessel thereafter slowed down and moved over the Ninety East Ridge, a mid-ocean ridge on the Indian Ocean floor named for its near-parallel strike along the 90th meridian at the center of the Eastern Hemisphere.
Upon entering the Sea of Sri Lanka on Monday (15) evening the Yuan Wang 5 must comply with the conditions of maintaining its unique vessel identifier and refrain from conducting any form of research and survey activity in the Sea of Sri Lanka.
Yuan Wang 5 is a third-generation tracking ship of the Yuan Wang Series. It has top-of-the-line antennas and electronic equipment to track ballistic missiles and satellites.
The Chinese Research Vessel fleet boats of twin vessels identified as Yuan Wang 5 and Yuan Wang 6.
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