No Chinese warship movement detected near crisis-hit Maldives: Indian Navy

According to sources, the Chinese naval movement was routine in nature and was through Sunda strait to the north-west of Australia. Sources said the Chinese naval movement took place approximately 2500 nautical miles away from the Maldives

Meanwhile, the Navy is also conducting the month-long Exercise Pashchim Lehar in the Arabian Sea which is witnessing participation of more than 40 ships.

READ | Chinese warships enter East Indian Ocean amid Maldives tensions

Response from the Navy came after reports emerged that eleven Chinese warships have sailed into the East Indian Ocean this month amid a constitutional crisis in the Maldives, which was under a state of emergency. According to Chinese news portal sina.com.cn, a fleet of destroyers and at least one frigate, a 30,000-tone amphibious transport dock and three support tankers entered the Indian Ocean.

However, the report did not link the deployment to the crisis in the Maldives or giving a reason. “If you look at warships and other equipment, the gap between the Indian and Chinese navy is not large,” the news portal further said.

The rivalry between India and China for influence in the Maldives intensified after President Abdulla Yameen agreed to Beijing’s Belt and Road initiative to build trade and transport links across Asia and beyond. India, which has had longstanding political and security ties to the island, has sought to push back against China’s expanding presence in the overwhelmingly Muslim country of 400,000 people.

In the wake of the Maldives crisis, China had advised its citizens to avoid visiting the Maldives, famous its luxury hotels, scuba-diving resorts and limpid tropical seas, until political tensions subside.

With Reuters inputs