YUAN WANG 6 IN INDIAN OCEAN TO MONITOR CHINA SATELLITE LAUNCHES

NEW DELHI: Although the Indian Navy is monitoring the movement of Chinese satellite and ballistic missile tracking ship Yuan Wang 6 as part of its maritime domain awareness, the vessel is not scheduled to enter into any seaport in Sri Lanka. The ship entered the Indian Ocean region on November 4 via Lombok Straits, which is some 3,500km from Port Blair.

While media reports on the basis of a Twitter feed reported that the ship was out to monitor scheduled ballistic missile launches off the coast of A P J Kalam Island this month, national security planners are not unduly worried as China has the capability to monitor Indian missile launches through satellite. According to South Block officials, the strategic support ship was in the Indian Ocean to monitor Chinese satellite launches planned on November 12 and at the end of the month.

Unlike its sister ship Yuan Wang 5, which docked at the Chinese leased port of Hambantota in Sri Lanka in August, the Yuan Wang 6 is not slated to enter into any Sri Lankan port.