Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Sri Lanka in September 2014 and signed many agreements with the then Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. One of the clauses of the agreement was to allow Chinese research vessels to enter Sri Lanka and conduct research. Below is the clause of that agreement.
‘announced the establishment of a Joint Committee on Coastal and Marine Cooperation to explore the feasibility of areas for cooperation which would include ocean observation, ecosystem protection, marine and coastal zone management, and search for wreckage of Zheng He.
He’s fleets off the Coast of Sri Lanka, maritime security, combating piracy, search and rescue, and navigation security.’
The current President Ranil Wickremesinghe has broken the agreement signed by the President of China and the President of Sri Lanka and banned Chinese research ships from coming to Sri Lanka for one year. The current President Ranil Wickremesinghe is violating that agreement under a Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna government which is the party of President Mahinda who signed the agreement. Mahinda Rajapaksa did not react to this when Ranil broke the agreement which he signed.
China’s response in this regard is also interesting. Although the Chinese government has not issued a statement, the Chinese media has identified India as the source of the ban. According to Chinese media, Sri Lanka made this decision due to Indian pressure. Sri Lanka is an independent country, so the decision to allow Chinese research ships to visit or not can be made independently. The Chinese President is embarrassed by Sri Lanka’s decision. The reason is that the Chinese President himself signed this agreement. China is careful not to accuse Sri Lanka in this regard because may believe that the ban will be lifted in one year. South China Morning Post expressed their opinion thus in this regard
‘Analysts say the ban’s short duration means China’s growing maritime presence in the Indian Ocean will ‘continue to be a matter of concern’ for New Delhi’
This means that after a year, this will be a matter of concern for India.
Sri Lanka banned Chinese research ships saying that no foreign ship would be allowed to enter Sri Lanka for a year. But recently an Indian submarine came to Sri Lanka. When the Indian media questioned about this, President Ranil said that no ban was imposed on the ships. The ban was imposed only on ships coming for research. China is deceived here too. Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, said to India’s NDTV that Chinese ships would not be allowed and that Indian concerns were important to Sri Lanka. Foreign Minister Ali Sabry recently told ‘The Hindu’ newspaper in Australia that there was no pressure from India to ban Chinese ships and China did not object to the ban.
Sri Lanka is caught in a trap regarding this Chinese research vessel. The reason for this is that Sri Lanka trying to use these Chinese research ships to play geopolitical games. Sri Lanka has agreed in the Indo-Lanka agreement that it will not allow Sri Lankan ports to be used as a threat to India’s security. It is impossible to think that Mahinda signed agreements with the Chinese President without knowing this. When this Indo-Lanka agreement was signed, Ranil was a minister in JR’s government. JR After signing this agreement, requested the cabinet ministers to write to him confidentially their opinion about the agreement. As mentioned in the book ‘Indian Intervention in Sri Lanka’, the only point Ranil mentioned against the agreement is that the agreement reached with India regarding Sri Lankan ports is harmful to the sovereignty of Sri Lanka. It cannot be said that Ranil was not aware of this agreement before allowing the Chinese ships to come
