A Chinese research ship is likely to dock in the Maldives and could stay in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean region for the next four months. The research ship is thought to be mapping underwater formations and also keeping an eye on Indian naval activity in this part of the oceans.

The Xiang Yang Hong 3 is currently crossing through the Sunda Strait that connects the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean and showing its destination as Male, the Maldivian capital and main port.

The research vessel has possibly been forced to bypass Sri Lanka after that country started 2024 by announcing a ban on Chinese research ships for a year through 2024.

China designates vessels like the Xiang Yang Hong 3 as non-military ships but their primary purpose and research is almost certainly linked to military goals. Mapping the underwater formations in this region, for instance, is highly useful for any Chinese submarines that might operate in these areas.

This particular vessel, the Xiang Yang Hong 3 has made two earlier long trips to the waters around India. In November 2019 it spent almost a month in the Bay of Bengal, surveying two areas called the Ninety East Ridge and the Cocos Basin area. Then in November 2020 it criss-crossed the Arabian Basin Area and the Carlsberg Ridge.

India is already facing a diplomatic contretemps in the Maldives and last week External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar held what was described as a "frank conversation" with his Maldivian counterpart Moosa Zameer at an international meeting in Kampala.

Zameer is said to have repeated the Maldivian demand that India should withdraw its 87 military personnel in the Maldives by March 15. It looks very unlikely that India will be willing to conduct such a withdrawal, especially at such short notice.

The new Maldivian President, Mohamed Muizzu, has also angered India by refusing to extend a pact that allows us to conduct hydrographic studies in the country’s waters. India has also installed a network of 10 radar stations in the Maldives.

In October-November last year, another Chinese research vessel the Shi Yan 6 docked in Colombo and conducted two days of research off the Sri Lankan coast. And in August 2022 there were strong protests from India when the Yuan Wang 5 docked at Hambantota, the Sri Lankan port given on a 99-year lease to China.

The naval rivalry between India and its allies and China is also hotting up in other ways. Last November five Chinese naval vessels including one submarine took part in joint exercises off the coast of Pakistan. And in mid-December an Indian naval ship took part in low-key exercises with the Philippines navy. The Philippines has been having regular standoffs with the Chinese in the South China Sea.

China is also flexing its muscles and showing that it intends to have a heightened presence in the Indian Ocean region in other ways. At a recent conference it talked about the China-Indian Ocean region, possibly showing how it has designs on the waters around India.