Recently Sri Lanka, which is maintaining a steady relationship with China, said it would not allow Chinese submarines to dock in its ports, a move apparently aimed at allaying its sea neighbor India’s concerns. Colombo acknowledged that such a docking did take place coinciding with the Japanese Prime Minister’s visit last year.
A Chinese submarine had visited Colombo port twice last year which had raised concerns in India. India raised the issue repeatedly with Sri Lankan government. China’s growing naval presence in the Indian Ocean region has opened a new area of rivalry for the two Asian countries.
Days after Vietnam PM Nguyen Tan Dung’s visit to India, a Chinese submarine, Changzheng 2, has again docked in last November at the Colombo port, sparking “enormous concerns” within the government about the intentions of then Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. It was the second time a Chinese submarine docked at a Sri Lankan port – after the first arrived seven weeks ago, India quickly warned the island nation on its southern tip that their presence was unacceptable to New Delhi.
India expressed strong concerns to Sri Lanka for allowing Chinese submarines to dock at its port this month. When the Chinese submarine Changzheng-2 and warship Chang Xing Daodocked at Colombo harbor for five days this month, alarm bells rang in New Delhi. India sees this as a violation of the July 1987 agreement which says that “Trincomalee or any other ports in Sri Lanka will not be made available for military use by any country in a manner prejudicial to India’s interests”. The agreement also calls upon the two countries to not allow their respective territories to be used for “activities prejudicial to each other’s unity, integrity and security”.
Analysts say that the timing of the Chinese submarines could be significant considering volatile relations between China and Japan especially over the disputed islands in the South China Sea. Abe visited Colombo on September 7 last year when President Mahinda Rajapaksa was in power.
Both China and Sri Lanka dismissed Indian concerns. China had defended their docking, stating that there was “nothing unusual” as it is common international practice for warships to stop for refueling at ports abroad. It had said the submarines were part of the fleet of warships deployed in anti-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean Gulf of Aden. A navy spokesperson in Colombo pointed out that in the last four years, more than 230 warships had called at Colombo port for goodwill visits or refueling. However, that has failed to allay India, where worries are rising about China’s expanding footprint in the Indian Ocean.
India claims the Chinese naval reach is increasing very fast, and that obviously creates some concern in India, because most of this area, particularly Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean has been a kind of strategic turf for India. Particularly submarine movement is a cause of main concern. Submarines are considered to be a more potent attack vehicle.
While India and China, the two Asian giants’ territorial disputes in the high Himalayas, have grabbed the most attention, their rivalry in the Indian Ocean is steadily building up. An Indian Defense Ministry report last year warned of the “grave threat” posed by the Chinese navy in the Indian Ocean. It suggested that China is widening its orbit of patrols beyond Chinese waters to jockey for control of highly sensitive sea lanes. The reason being much of China’s booming economy is fueled by oil shipped through the Indian Ocean from the Middle East. Resources from Africa and trade with Europe ply through the same waters.
In recent years, China has helped to build a network of ports or facilities in South Asian countries such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Myanmar and secured docking rights in Seychelles. China is also developing key ports in Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa.
While many security experts worry about the “undue Chinese presence” in South Asia, some see no reason for alarm. They point out that ports cannot be quickly converted into naval facilities. Indian security experts claim China’s efforts to find a toehold in the Indian Ocean are the result of its growing global presence. While it seeks to maintain a presence in the Indian Ocean and China also internally believes that it is vulnerable as far as the sea lines of communication are concerned from Asia and Africa. So China has been methodically trying to increase its political linkages and access in the Indian Ocean
In Sri Lanka, political observers say that the maritime rivalry between India and China has provided an opportunity for the small country to play off both rivals against each other. They say Colombo is increasingly relying on Beijing for both military and development support as the Asian giant invests billions of dollars to develop infrastructure.
For the time being, India has responded to China’s growing forays in the Indian Ocean by shoring up its own partnerships with South East Asian nations and taking steps to modernize its navy.
The balance of power game Sri Lanka is playing, India suggests, could also be quite dangerous, for a small island country to do that, because as the old saying goes, when elephants make love or war, it is the grass that gets trampled on
Sri Lanka feels the Indian pinch and its Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said addressing a press conference here in Colombo: “I really don’t know under what sort of circumstances the submarines came to Colombo on the same day when Japanese Prime Minister (Shinzo Abe) visited Sri Lanka but we will ensure such incidents from which ever quarter do not happen during our tenure.”
Samarweera, who held talks with Premier Li Keqiang and Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his two-day visit to Beijing recently, said Sri Lanka has some concerns over $5 billion of Chinese investments obtained during former president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s regime. Significantly, Samaraweera also said Sri Lanka is concerned about the high interest rates for Chinese loans to build various projects which amounted to US $5 billion, including the US $1.5 billion for the Colombo Port City project. During his talks with Li and Wang, Samaraweera discussed a host of issues including concerns over high interest rate on the about USD five billion Chinese loans as well as his government’s aim to pursue a balanced foreign policy.
A high-level Sri Lankan team will visit China later to discuss the issues with the Chinese government, Samaraweera said. Samaraweera is the first Sri Lankan official to visit Beijing, preparing for the forthcoming visit of his president to Beijing, since President Sirisena assumed power in Colombo after Rajapaksa’s defeat in the January polls. Samaraweera’s visit to China will be followed by new Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena’s trip next month.
Indian objections to China presence in Indian Ocean could be an issue on the Sri Lanka-China agenda. Meanwhile USA with its Asia pivot policy is pushing India to deny China any chance to control the Indian Ocean.
