Did China make a smart move by offering Sri Lanka debt relief at a crucial juncture in history? The president must have been pleased that relief came his way just before his official visit to China. All this will coincide with Shi Yan 6’s arrival in Sri Lanka. The Chinese ploy associated with the Shi Yan 6 would no doubt cause qualms in Indian circles.

Shi Yan 6 has created a vortex of confusion in political circles and baffled even the US authorities that cautioned Sri Lanka against the arrival of the Chinese research vessel.

The controversial Chinese scientific research vessel Shi Yan 6 is now in international waters off the Bay of Bengal, ostensibly to visit Sri Lanka somewhere in late October. However, nobody confirmed the date that it would dock in Colombo and thereafter in Hambantota.

Foreign Minister Ali Sabry earlier said that the Chinese authorities had asked for clearance to dock the vessel in Colombo in late October, but the government of Sri Lanka wanted them to put it off indefinitely while setting a probable date somewhere in late November.

India has already registered its unequivocal protest with the Sri Lankan authorities that it would cause hiccups in the Indian security apparatus. It is because India believes that the vessel is well equipped to collect Ocean data that would be detrimental to their interests in the Indian Ocean region.

Shi Yan 6 is sailing towards Sri Lanka at a very critical time when President Ranil Wickremesinghe is scheduled to visit China on a goodwill mission where Wickremesinghe would woo China for more investments in Sri Lanka that would help boost the economy.

Political analysts are of the view that the arrival of the Chinese research vessel and the announcement made by the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman are interlinked and had put Sri Lanka in an awkward position as far as the Indian interest are concerned. Timing by the Chinese political authorities to send the research vessel to Lankan waters had put India in a spin and it could be a festering point in Indo-Sri Lanka relations in the immediate future.

The government, in the meantime, said that it reached an agreement on the essential principles and indicative terms of a debt treatment with the Export-Import Bank of China (Exim Bank) and hoped that this landmark achievement would provide an anchor to their ongoing engagement with the Official Creditor Committee and commercial creditors, including the bondholders.

The Finance Ministry said that the agreement, in principle, covers approximately USD 4.2bn of outstanding debt. The Ministry said it constitutes a vital step towards restoring Sri Lanka’s long-term debt sustainability and will pave the way for a prompt economic recovery.

The Secretary to the Treasury Mr. K M Mahinda Siriwardana said in a statement

“Yesterday marked a big step for Sri Lanka as we reached this landmark agreement in principle on debt treatment terms with our largest single creditor. We thank China Exim Bank for its support in resolving our country’s debt situation. This agreement constitutes a key milestone in Sri Lanka’s ongoing efforts to foster its economic recovery.”

In the next few weeks, the Sri Lankan authorities and China Exim Bank will actively work on formalizing and implementing the agreed parameters of the debt treatment.

Chinese had planned to help Sri Lanka surmount the debt mountain that Sri Lanka was facing when the representatives of the countries of the Indian Ocean Rim Association were meeting in Colombo.

 Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar put the Indian agenda on top, playing a dominant role during the proceedings. Although Jaishankar was to spend an additional day in Colombo, he cut short his visit after bundling all the opposition party representatives into one meeting without meeting them separately

What made India to curtail Jaishankar’s visit baffled many although they attributed the same to the unfolding crisis in the Middle East and that Jaishankar was urgently needed in Delhi for consultation on the emerging trend. India has expressed its solidarity with Israel thus losing an opportunity be the peacemaker in the Middle East conflict which would affect the world at large. However political analyst are not convinced by the explanation offered by the Indian authorities to cut short Jaishankar’s visit

External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar put the Indian agenda on top, playing a dominant role during the proceedings. Although Jaishankar was to spend an additional day in Colombo, he cut short his visit after bundling all the opposition party representatives into one meeting without meeting them separately.

Previously also India differed the visit of its Defence Minister to Colombo within six hours of the announcement made by the Indian High commission in Colombo.

The Indian Defence Minister Shri Rajnath Singh’s visit was scheduled to review bilateral defence ties with Sri Lanka and was billed to visit on the second of September.

Fresh dates are to be decided later,” the Indian High Commission said in a statement later after it originally announced the visit.

The Indian High Commission did not give reasons for the deferment, but Sri Lankan officials aware of the Indian Minister’s schedule said weather warnings would have been the reason.

Possible adverse weather conditions have been forecast by Sri Lankan authorities. The Indian Defence Minister was expected to travel to the up country and eastern port district of Trincomalee in his tight schedule.

Although External affairs Minister Jaishankar’s visit ended abruptly he managed to ink three MoU’s with Sri Lanka.

The minister called on the President Ranil Wickremesinghe and discussed a diverse range of areas pertaining to bilateral ties between the two countries. Recalling the bilateral economic partnership vision statement issued during the visit of the President of Sri Lanka to India in July 2023, they agreed on the need to strengthen multiple dimensions of connectivity such as trade, people-to-people, and energy partnership, among others as outlined in the statement. They also agreed to fast track priority steps for achieving the goals envisaged in the Vision Statement in a time bound manner.

The visit brought to the fore the wide scope and the agility of India’s development cooperation partnership with Sri Lanka.

Be that as it may delivering a keynote address at the 11th edition of the Galle Dialogue and International Maritime Conference at the Jetwing Lighthouse Hotel on the 12th under the theme ‘Emerging New Order in the Indian Ocean, President Wickremesinghe proposed that Sri Lanka should adopt the ASEAN outlook of the Indo-Pacific as two distinct oceans and prioritize freedom of navigation and undersea cables in the Indian Ocean.

He acknowledged that the emerging order could rapidly change due to global events and emphasised the need for wise leadership and diplomacy in addressing evolving challenges.

The President acknowledged that the emerging order could rapidly change due to global events and emphasised the need for wise leadership and diplomacy in addressing evolving challenges.

President Wickremesinghe’s speech provided a comprehensive perspective on the Indian Ocean’s unique place in global politics, culture, and economics and its role in shaping the emerging new order in the region.

However it is yet to be seen how Sri Lanka would handle the two Asian giants at odds and make progress while marinating best of its relations with both countries. The Chinese Shi Yan 6 may arrive in Sri Lanka in an atmosphere where the Ruhuna University as allegedly backed out from joint research work, Nevertheless, with Standing Operating Procedure in place (SOP) it may not create bubbles in the Ocean can take you soaring or pop in an instant.