India has expressed serious concerns to Sri Lanka as the island nation’s tankers have been secretly refuelling Chinese Navy vessels on the high seas.

“New Delhi has asked Sri Lanka to come up with transparent standard operation procedures (SOPs) for refuelling and docking of ships and not allow Chinese military vessels to either dock or refuel at Hambantota or Colombo ports,” according to a report in the Hindustan Times based on information provided by diplomats in Colombo.

It was noticed that Sri Lankan vessels were loading fuel from Hambantota port and refuelling Chinese warships on the high seas despite Indian and US concerns on the issue, the report points out.

India has been rising to the occasion to provide fuel, food and medicines to Sri Lanka during the worst days of its economic crisis. However, Colombo does not appear to be living up to its promise when it comes to New Delhi’s sensitivities on the China issue.

Chinese warships have been using the anti-piracy pretext to deploy its warships off the coast of East Africa and the Gulf of Aden even though there is little or no pirate activity in the region. Refuelling of these ships by Sri Lanka helps them to continue with these operations which are emerging as a threat to peace in the Indian Ocean region.

The Sri Lanka government earlier bowed to Beijing’s arm-twisting in letting Chinese spy ship Yuan Wang 5 to dock at Hambantota despite India’s objections. Both India and the US had made it clear to Colombo that it should desist from extending any logistical support to Chinese Navy vessels.

While China’s so-called research vessels such as Yuan Wang 5 are said to be carrying out hydrological surveys and metal prospecting, they are actually monitoring satellite activity and missile test firing in the region with a focus on India, US and Australia. This is an issue of serious concern.