Chinese vessel ’Yuan Wang 5’ arrives

The chinese scientific research vessel 'Yuan Wang 5' arrived at the Hambantota port this morning amid concerns raied by India.

Sri Lanka on Saturday had granted permission to the Chinese “research/survey” ship Yuan Wang 5 to dock at Hambantota Port from August 16 to 22.

India had last month raised security concerns over the presence of the ship close to the Indian coast, and external affairs minister S. Jaishankar is understood to have discussed this with his Sri Lankan counterpart Ali Sabry when they met in Cambodia earlier this month.Following the concerns raised by India, Sri Lanka had on August 5 asked China to defer the arrival of the ship — initially scheduled to dock at Hambantota from August 11 to 16 — till further consultations without making any public reference to New Delhi.