Amidst the current tensions between the IOR countries, India and Maldives; China has received a golden opportunity to get its claws into the region. According to reports in the media, the recent move by China is evident that the Chinese military research-survey-surveillance ship Xiang Yang Hong 3 is currently anchored at Male seaport, another sister ship Xiang Yang Hong 01 is making its way toward the Bay of Bengal for surveillance off India’s eastern seaboard.
The Marine Traffic website shows both the surveillance vessels in the Indian Ocean Region with the pro-China Muizzu government in Maldives allowing the spy ship to be docked at the Male. Since the 01 vessel does not have any listed destination, intelligence inputs indicate that the spy vessel is bound for Sri Lankan port for operational turnaround (OTR). Even though Sri Lanka declared a one-year moratorium against survey vessels last December 22, 2023, inputs indicate that the vessel may dock at Colombo seaport with Ranil Wickremesinghe government under pressure to allow the docking. Both the vessels are being monitored by the Indian Navy.
According to maritime security experts, the overt purpose of these vessels is to carry out hydrography and hydrological surveys for future PLA Navy submarine operations in the IOR but the presence of Chinese spy vessels off India’s eastern seaboard could also be to monitor missile firing off Balasore test range apart from picking signature of Indian nuclear ballistic missile carrying submarine based near Visakhapatnam.
Predictably, Chinese made a lousy excuse that the purpose is “research”. Under the garb of research, it has been surfaced that the PLA vessels are known to pick up noise signatures of Indian submarines as well as monitor the test firing of missiles and link the coordinates with Chinese spy satellites. Since 2019, China has locked IOR as its target and it’s obsession for the region is escalating with each passing day.
Even though the Chinese vessel 01 is operating in international waters, the IOR maritime situation has become complicated for India with pro-Chinese Maldivian President Mohammed Muizzu. This is a golden ticket for China to brandish its authority over majority of the IOR countries. India is on its guard and it knows that tough days are ahead, but then when it wasn’t when it comes to dealing with a notorious country like China.
As the situation has exacerbated with Maldives being all set to play the role of a doormat for China and its minions. Muizzu, made his trip abroad to Turkey and has now acquired Bayraktar 2 drones for patrolling the Maldivian EEZ. The shift is clear and the priorities are all set. Power struggle in the Indian Ocean region has commenced and only intensify in the coming days.
