New Delhi, April 30: Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R. Hari Kumar on Saturday highlighted a challenge due to Chinese research vessels, which otherwise are free to operate in international waters.
“These vessels have the ability to track and collect electronic signals. So when they operate close to our areas of national interest, then it becomes a challenge,” Admiral Hari Kumar added.
He further said, “Indian Navy keeps an eye, and it has ships which monitor them very closely” while interacting at a seminar organized by the Chanakya Dialogues and PHD chamber of Commerce and Industry.
“We are keeping a close watch in the Indian ocean region and efforts are on to know of presence of enemies and what are they up to, monitoring it 24X7, the Navy Chief said.
It may be recalled that in May 2022, a Chinese spy ship ‘Yuan Wang 5’ had docked at Hambantota in Sri Lanka which had turned into a diplomatic row between India and Sri Lanka.
Another Chinese spy ship Yuan Wang 6 had entered IOR due to which Indian long range missile launch had to be deferred.
The vessel had reentered in the region in December when the missile test was rescheduled.
Elaborating on the issue, Hari Kumar said there is a large presence of Chinese vessels. At any point of time, there are 3 to 6 Chinese warships in the Indian Ocean Region. Some are close to the Gulf of Oman and some are in the Eastern part of IOR,” he explained.
The Indian Navy’s role is to protect, promote and preserve national interests in the maritime domain.
EOM
