India urges Sri Lanka to stop mid-sea refueling of Chinese warships

(Hindustan Times) - India has expressed its displeasure at Sri Lanka allowing Chinese warships to refuel from the Hambantota port, reported Hindustan Times citing multiple sources. The port was leased out to China for 99 years in 2017 and it hosted the Yuan Wang 5 warship couple of months ago. 

While tensions between India and China continue to brew in the region, Sri Lanka has also entered the conversation due to the complicated nature of its relationship with Beijing. The Hambantota port provides the perfect solution for Chinese warships to refuel without Indian or United States interference. 

As a result, the Indian authorities have requested Sri Lanka to take cognisance of the matter and demanded a transparent standard operation procedure (SOPs) for refuelling and docking ships. 

According to Hindustan Times, the US has joined India in asking Sri Lanka not to allow Chinese warships to use the port to avoid surveillance. This has also resulted in Colombo finding itself in a difficult situation as it required aid from China to control the prevalent economic crisis. 

While the accusations continue to haunt China, reports suggest that no warships from the country are currently active in the Indian Ocean and they are now preferring the course through East Africa. 

“The Chinese warships continue to ply off the coast of East Africa and the Gulf of Aden while there is hardly any pirate activity in the region. It was the anti-piracy pretext that China used to secure a base in Djibouti,” a Beijing watcher told Hindustan Times when asked about the situation.