• Ali Sabry welcomes spate of Indian & Chinese warships making Col. a Port of call

The Foreign Affairs Ministry yesterday (28) welcomed the arrival of Indian and Chinese warships in a backdrop where India and China attempt to exert influence in the Indian Ocean Region.

“The arrival of the warships is very good for Sri Lanka as a regional player,” Minister of Foreign Affairs M.U.M. Ali Sabry told The Daily Morning yesterday (28) at a press conference. “The Americans are coming, the Indians are coming, and now the Chinese are coming. This means that Sri Lanka is important and Colombo has become a hub once again.”

These comments followed the docking of the Indian Naval destroyer ship ‘INS Mumbai’ which was welcomed by the Sri Lanka Navy. Meanwhile, two Chinese landing platform docks and one Chinese destroyer named ‘Wuzhishan’, ‘Qilianshan’ and ‘He Fei’, respectively, also docked in Sri Lanka on Monday (26) and were also welcomed by the Navy. A destroyer ship is a smaller armed warship used to support larger vessels while a landing platform dock is a ship used to transport and land troops, equipment and supplies.

The Sri Lanka Navy announced that the Chinese ship would stay docked in Sri Lanka for three days and depart today (29). It was reported that the ‘INS Mumbai’ arrived on Monday and would also be docked for three days. The three Chinese vessels and the Indian ship arrived days after three U.S. Navy destroyers called at Colombo Port for replenishment. 

According to the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka, the ship will undertake joint activities along with the Sri Lanka Navy, while carrying spare parts for the Dornier Maritime Patrol Aircraft which is currently operated by the Sri Lanka Air Force. The Dornier Aircraft is used in surveillance of the Sri Lankan sea area of responsibility and has also helped in search and rescue operations.