Electronic snooping by Chinese space tracking vessel Yuan Wang 5 which docked at Hambantota port in Sri Lanka is a huge headache for India's security. China which already has the world's largest Navy with 355 warships and submarines has been actively hunting for logistical bases in the Indian Ocean Region after establishing its first overseas base at Djibouti on the Horn of Africa in 2017. Given Sri Lanka's proximity to Indian shores and our current icy ties with China, the docking of this mammoth vessel bristling with long range radars, sensors and satellite tracking technology is a cause for major concern. Sri Lanka finds itself under a mountain of debt due to unprincipled Chinese loans that were used to finance white elephant projects, the Hambantota port being one of them which is incidentally leased out for 99 years. Chinese aggressive maritime diplomacy and naval expeditions are anything but innocuous, making it all the more difficult for India to counter the dragon's juggernaut. Clearly India's $4 billion emergency aid and the gift of a Dornier-228 aircraft for maritime surveillance to Colombo has not counted for much.
