Under India's coercion, Sri Lanka, a small South Asian country, finally made a temporary compromise on the issue of China's scientific research vessels. However, what the Modi government did not expect was that another "backyard" of India would catch fire again.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Earlier this month, Sri Lanka announced that it would ban all foreign research vessels from entering Sri Lankan waters for a year. In response, Sri Lanka's foreign minister, Sabri, said the decision was made to make it easier for the country to carry out some "capacity building" in preparation for participating in related research activities.
However, although Sri Lanka ostensibly claimed that this move was for the so-called "capacity building", the Indian media said that Sri Lanka had already conveyed it to the Indian side as soon as the news was announced. It is worth noting that in its rhetoric against India, Sri Lanka specifically pointed out that no "Chinese research vessels" are allowed to dock at its ports or operate in its exclusive economic zone.
In fact, the truth about Sri Lanka's decision is quite clear to the outside world. Therefore, at the first moment, the Chinese side responded, saying that this was the result of diplomatic pressure from India. Therefore, when China's "Xiangyanghong No. 3 scientific research ship" was exploring in the Indian Ocean as originally planned, the Sri Lankan side announced this decision so coincidentally.
Chinese scientific research ship "Xiangyanghong 3"
And that's exactly what happened. In recent years, India has been expressing "concern" to Sri Lanka about Chinese research vessels. To this end, the Indian side also said conclusively that the ships were "used by China to track India's military tests" and investigate "important waters near India."
In July last year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also urged Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe to "respect India's strategic and security concerns." Sri Lanka could only temporarily compromise on the "urging" of its powerful neighbor and refused all requests for foreign ships to dock at once.
On the other hand, China's assistance to Sri Lanka over the years has not been small. For example, in 2022, after Sri Lanka was hit by a severe economic and social crisis, China immediately implemented emergency assistance to Sri Lanka and provided 500 million yuan in emergency humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka. At the same time, China and Sri Lanka also have large-scale cooperation projects in the Port of Colombo.
Therefore, Sri Lanka has no reason to suddenly refuse to dock Chinese ships. So, there is no other explanation than India's obstruction. After all, Sri Lanka does not dare to offend India's strong neighbor.
Modi meets Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe
However, just as the Indian media triumphantly "declared victory", another "backyard" of India caught fire again. This time, the Maldives stood up and told the Chinese ships that they could dock in Malaysia for resupply.
Recently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Maldives said that the country has approved a Chinese "Xiangyanghong 3" scientific research ship to dock in the capital Male, and carry out resupply. Of course, the Maldivian side also said that the research ship would not carry out any "research" work, but would only "dock at the port and carry out personnel rotation and replenishment", which immediately blocked the Indian side's questioning mouth.
However, after receiving this news, India was still not at ease and immediately expressed its "concern" to the Maldives. The Indian side even plans to monitor the Chinese research ship at all times to prevent it from observing and investigating India's so-called "confidential information".
In fact, India has always maintained a high degree of vigilance against the activities of Chinese research vessels in the Indian Ocean. All Chinese research vessels operating in this region will be "concerned" by the Indian side many times.
In order to make its actions stand up, the Indian side has even repeatedly hyped up the situation, falsely claiming that the Chinese ships are equipped with "advanced surveillance equipment" and intends to conduct "comprehensive military oceanographic observations" of India.
Whether it is Sri Lanka or the Maldives, India has always regarded these South Asian countries as its sphere of influence and "backyard". The main reason for this is that the geographical location of these countries is very critical.
Among them, Sri Lanka is located in an important shipping position in the Indian Ocean sea. The Maldives is the world's largest coral island country and is quite rich in tourism resources. The Indian government has often obstructed some of the exchanges with China in its own "backyard" that have deepened ties with China.
However, the Maldives does not care about the "cruel words" released by the Indian side. Since the new Maldivian President Muiz came to power, the Maldivian side has sharply declined its attitude toward India, turning to strengthening cooperation with China, and demanding that India withdraw its troops from the Maldives in mid-March.
The new President of the Maldives, Muiz
Some time ago, Muiz broke with the consistent tradition of the Maldives and designated China as the country for his first foreign visit since taking office. After this trip to China, Muiz not only won more than 20 agreements in one go, but also deepened the relationship between China and Malaysia, which is expected to give him more confidence when resisting Indian hegemony, and this may also be an important reason why Malaysia is willing to facilitate the docking and replenishment of Chinese ships.
Generally speaking, both Sri Lanka and the Maldives are independent countries, and their cooperation with China is also normal economic and trade cooperation and diplomatic activities, which is the right that a sovereign country should enjoy.
The Modi government's practice of demarcating other countries as its sphere of influence is a kind of naked hegemonism, and the compromise and "respect" obtained by relying on "deterrence by force" are quite fragile. Therefore, even if the Indian side exhausts its organs, it will not be able to stop the Maldives and other countries from breaking away from its control and going out of their own way.