Chinese surveillance vessel ‘Yuan Wang 5’ re-enters Indian Ocean

It coincides with a planned Indian long-range missile test between Dec 15-16

Chinese surveillance vessel  ‘Yuan Wang 5’ has re-entered the Indian Ocean in what coincides with a planned Indian long-range missile test, between December 15-16. In a similar incident last month, another vessel ‘Yuan Wang 6’ had entered the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) coinciding with a planned Indian missile launch, but the launch was then deferred.

According to the maritime vessel-tracking portal marinetraffic.com, the ‘Yuan Wang 5’ had entered the IOR through Sunda strait, off Indonesia late evening, on December 4. The vessel was in the IOR last month.

Explained | China’s moves in the Indian Ocean

As per the open-source intelligence handle on Twitter@detresfa, India had issued a notification NOTAM (Notice to Airmen), for a no-fly zone over the Bay of Bengal for a possible missile launch with a window between December 15-16, for a maximum distance of 5400 km. Given the range, it is likely to be the test of the Agni 5 Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missile.

While research activities were allowed in international waters as per international regulations, the data generated had a dual nature including military and on many occasions, the motive of the Chinese vessels seemed doubtful, defence officials had stated.

In August, the docking of ‘Yuan Wang 5’ at Hambantota in Sri Lanka had created a major diplomatic showdown between India and Sri Lanka.

Explained | Why is the visit of a Chinese vessel to Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port controversial?