Chinese vessels' frequent visits to the port of Colombo in Sri Lanka are causing concern for India as it engages with Sri Lanka in a joint military action called Exercise-Mithra Shakthi in the later country's Uva-Kudaoya training school, reports Huanqiu, website of China's nationalistic tabloid Global Times, which translated the original report from the Times of India.
The visits included one on Sunday when a Chinese submarine docked at the port after conducting an escort mission in the Gulf of Aden and waters near Somalia and another in mid-August when a Chinese amphibious landing ship and a frigate visited the port after another anti-piracy mission off Somalia.
Although Kosala Warnakulasuriya, spokesperson for the Sri Lankan navy, said the visits were no different from the 230 warships around the world that have visited the port since 2010 for refueling and restocking, Indian geo-strategist and thinker Brahma Chellaney said it suggests India's influence in the region has been weakened and called the frequent visits "a grave miscalculation," the Indian paper said.
Around 42 Indian special force troops have joined the three-week joint exercise that began Nov. 2. The exercise aims to enhance the interoperability of the two countries' militaries, according to News.LK, the official government news portal of Sri Lanka. It was the second time the two countries held such drills since December 2012 which took place in Nahan, Himachal Pradesh, India, said the Times of India.
Over the past few years, India has been regularly helping to train the Sri Lanka military and providing military equipment to resist China's influence over south Asian countries.
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