‘Welcome vessels of friendly nations’: Maldives confirms docking of Chinese ‘research’ ship

“Such port calls not only enhance bilateral ties between the Maldives and its partner countries, but also demonstrate the centuries old tradition of the Maldivian people welcoming vessels from friendly countries,” it added.

It further stated that the Maldives continues to uphold international best practices, and relevant international maritime law on all such cases.

On Monday, open source intelligence researcher Damien Symon wrote on X that the Chinese vessel Xiang Yang Hong 03 was en-route to Male, and “is entering the Indian Ocean Region, displaying its destination as Male, the vessel is expected to run an ocean survey operation in the Indian Ocean Region raising concern in #India”.

According to a Reuters report, an Indian military official confirmed Symon’s finding and said they are monitoring its movement.

Meanwhile, India has not made any statement regarding the vessel’s movement.

New Delhi has in the past flagged similar visits by other Chinese research vessels with its other littoral neighbour Sri Lanka, which has denied permission for such vessels to dock on its ports since 2022.

The latest development also comes in the wake of a diplomatic row between the two countries, after three deputy ministers in the Maldivian government posted derogatory comments on social media against Prime Minister Narendra Modi over photographs of his trip to Lakshadweep.

Last week, Muizzu’s government announced that it has set a March 15 deadline for India to withdraw its military personnel from the country. “Indian military personnel cannot stay in the Maldives. This is the policy of President Dr Mohamed Muizzu and that of this administration,” Ahmed Nazim, policy director at the President’s Office said, according to the SunOnline newspaper.

The deadline, however, was not mentioned in the statements issued by India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) as well as the Maldives Foreign Office.

Relations between traditional friends New Delhi and Male have soured since President Mohamed Muizzu took office in November riding an ‘India Out’ campaign.