Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Ali Sabry on Monday said that Colombo has not given China the permission to dock its sea vessel in the island nation. He also said that the concerns raised by India over the issue is “important” for Sri Lanka. Responding to reports regarding a Chinese research vessel, Shi Yan 6 scheduled to be docked in Sri Lanka in October, Sabry said they have a standard operating procedure and that they have consulates many friends, including India, as per an ANI report.
"That's a conversation going on for some period of time. India has expressed its concerns for a long period of time, but we have now come out with the SOP standard operating procedure,” Sabry said, speaking to ANI.
“When we were making that, we consulted many of our friends, including India. So, as long as it complies with the SOP, we have no problem. But if it doesn't comply with the SOP, we have a problem,” he added.
Denying the reports of Sri Lanka giving permission to the Chinese vessel, Sabry said negotiations are going on.
"So, therefore, as far as I know, we have not given permission to come to Sri Lanka during the month of October. So, there are negotiations going on. But, Indian security concerns, which are legitimate, are very, very important for us. We have always told that because we want to keep our region as a zone of peace," he said.
Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe had earlier said that an SOP has been worked out for foreign vessel.
The reports of Shi Yan 6 scheduled to be docked in October comes a year after a Chinese spy vessel Yuan Wang-5 docked in Sri Lanka over which External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said that any developments that have a bearing on India’s security are “obviously of an interest to us.”
"What happens in our neighbourhood, any developments which have a bearing on our security obviously are of interest to us," Jaishankar said at a joint press conference after the 9th India-Thailand Joint Commission Meeting.