- SL undecided on survey area
Sri Lanka’s ability, or lack of such, to chart a sovereign course through the turbulent geopolitical waters of the Indian Ocean is once again under the spotlight, with reports that diplomatic permission for the Chinese geophysical and seismic survey ship Shi Yan 6 to call port and conduct research is still pending.
This, despite the Ministry of Defence (MOD) telling The Sunday Morning last month that the Government had granted approval for the research vessel to enter Sri Lankan territorial waters and call port in Colombo.
However, the MOD at the time said that permission for the research request made by the Chinese vessel as early as April of this year had not been finalised.
Later, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had indicated that permission had not been issued. The Ministry of Defence was not available for comment when contacted about the conflicting statements.
However, Government sources told The Sunday Morning that the nod of approval from Colombo was ‘pending’.
It is reliably learnt that the dates of arrival and the area of survey off the island’s coastline are yet to be finalised.
Sources indicate that Sri Lanka had requested China to defer the visit until November. However, China remains steadfast on arriving in October, it is learnt.
A senior official told The Sunday Morning that Sri Lanka was not agreeable to the survey plan filed by Shi Yan 6. “The vessel will likely only be permitted to carry out a limited survey along the southern coast of Sri Lanka – that too under strict regulations,” the official said.
The reviewed Standard Operational Procedure (SOP) to grant diplomatic approval for foreign warships, aircraft, and research vessels to traverse Sri Lankan waters and airspace and to call at local ports is expected to come into effect this month.
Sri Lanka began a review process of its diplomatic clearance procedure after the controversial visit of the Chinese satellite tracking vessel, Yuan Wang 5, to the Hambantota International Port (August 2022), which drew strong criticism from regional and extra-regional powers.
The Shi Yan 6 visit comes almost a year after the Yuan Wang 5’s visit.