PLA Navy's research vessel to dock at Malé, India wary over China's plan to build ocean observatory in Maldives

The permission to allow the Chinese ship comes amid strains in ties between India and Maldives after its new President Mohamed Muizzu came to power and made Beijing as his first port of call early this month after assuming office.

New Delhi: India is worried over the possibility of China reviving its plan to build an ocean observatory in the Maldives even as the new government of the archipelago decided to allow a “research ship” of the communist country’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) to dock at the main port of the Indian Ocean nation.

President Mohamed Muizzu’s government on Tuesday stated that it had decided to allow Chinese PLAN’s ‘research vessel’ Xiang Yang Hong 3 to dock at Malé, the main port of the Maldives. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the government of the Maldives stated that the decision to allow the ship to make the port call followed a diplomatic request from Beijing. It, however, claimed that Xiang Yang Hong 3 would dock at Malé only for the rotation of personnel and replenishment and would not conduct any research as long as it would remain in the territorial waters of the Maldives.

New Delhi, however, is not convinced and, according to the sources, would soon convey its concerns to Malé through diplomatic channels. A source in New Delhi told DH that India would use its assets to keep watch on the Xiang Yang Hong 3 during its port call in the Maldives.

New Delhi is also worried over the possibility of China building an ocean observatory at Makunudhoo in the Maldives. The government headed by President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom in Malé had in 2017 agreed with Beijing to allow the State Oceanic Administration of China to build the observatory. New Delhi had then objected to the project and asked Malé to be sensitive about the security concerns of India. The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), which was then in the opposition, had also expressed concerns that China would use the observatory to be built in the Maldives for military purposes. After Abdulla Yameen was voted out of power and the new MDP government led by Ibrahim Mohamed Solih took over, the project was shelved.

With Muizzu now reversing Solih’s ‘India First’ policy of treating India as a preferred partner of the Maldives and of lessening the tiny nation’s reliance on China, New Delhi is now worried that China may soon press Malé to revive the ocean observatory project, given the forays of the communist country’s PLAN to the Indian Ocean, sources told DH. 

The Chinese PLAN uses its ‘research vessels’ not only for hydrographic surveys and charting underwater paths for its submarines but also for monitoring missiles or satellites test-fired from the locations in the vicinity as well as for keeping watch on military installations in the nearby countries. New Delhi had conveyed concerns to the Sri Lankan government when two research vessels of the Chinese PLAN – Yuan Wang 5 and Shi Yan 6 – had been allowed to dock at Hambantota and Colombo ports of the island nation in August 2022 and October 2023 respectively.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s government has recently decided not to allow China’s research vessels to dock at the ports of Sri Lanka or operate in the exclusive economic zone of the country for a year.

Beijing has now decided to take advantage of its bonhomie with the new regime led by Muizzu in Malé and use the ports of the Maldives for the Chinese PLAN’s research vessels to dock.