Another Chinese research and space tracking ship is now cruising the Indian Ocean while India is conducting missile tests in the Bay of Bengal. A significant diplomatic dispute between India and Sri Lanka resulted from the landing of a similar Chinese espionage ship at Hambantota in August.
Last week, the almost 22,000-tonne Yuan Wang-6, which has enormous antennae, cutting-edge surveillance technology and sensors that can follow long-range ballistic missile trajectories and monitor satellite launches, was travelling off the Indonesian island of Bali.
According to sources in the defence establishment, the Indian Navy has been "closely monitoring" Yuan Wang-6, which has a crew of 400 and is commanded by the Strategic Support Force of the People's Liberation Army, ever since she reached the IOR through the Sunda Strait of Indonesia a few days ago.
India had earlier issued a NOTAM (notice to airmen) with an expanded ‘no-fly’ zone over the Bay of Bengal for the test of a long-range ballistic missile on November 10-11. A new AD-1 interceptor missile for Phase-II of the indigenous two-tier ballistic missile defence (BMD) system was also tested from the Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast just two days ago. But the user-trial of the ballistic missile of the Agni series by the Strategic Forces Command next week is now likely to be deferred.
“China has been regularly sending such spy ships to the IOR to gather technical intelligence, often around the time India tests its missiles. Such vessels can track the speed, accuracy and range of ballistic missiles,” a source said.
In August, India had conveyed concerns to Sri Lanka about the docking of Yuan Wang-5 at its southern port of Hambantota. This had initially led Colombo to defer the docking but then in a U-turn had allowed it from August 16 to 22. After opening its first overseas facility at Djibouti on the Horn of Africa in August 2017, China, which already has the largest navy in the world with 355 warships and submarines, has been actively looking for logistical locations in the IOR.
