A US Navy ship has arrived at the port of Colombo but the authorities have not announced any dates as yet for the Chinese research vessel scheduled to reach the Lanka shores this month.

The Sri Lanka Navy said USNS Brunswick, an expeditionary fast transport ship, arrived on Wednesday on a 4-day formal visit.

The 103-metre-long ship is manned by a crew of 24 and they are to visit leading tourist attraction sites in the country, the Sri Lanka Navy said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the dates for the visit by a Chinese research vessel have not been announced by the local authorities as yet.

In August, Sri Lanka said the Chinese research vessel SHI YAN 6 was due in the country for marine research activities in October.

The permission to dock at a Sri Lankan port was not immediately granted due to objections raised by India, the officials had said then.

Incidentally, India on Wednesday said a multilateral rules-based international order, along with sincere respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity remains the foundation for reviving the Indian Ocean as a strong community, in a veiled attack on China, which is flexing its muscles in the region.

Speaking at the 23rd Council of Ministers Meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) here, India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also said that it is important to maintain the Indian Ocean as a free, open and inclusive space based on the UN Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS), as the Constitution of the Seas.

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