CHINA-SRI LANKA Beijing plans a radar base in Sri Lanka to monitor India and the Indian Ocean

In the crosshairs, the operations of the Indian Navy and the military and strategic installations of the subcontinent. The Chinese could also keep an eye on Diego Garcia’s Anglo-American base. Colombo, pressured by debts with China. The 007 Indians alerted Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Colombo () – China plans to establish a radar base in the jungle near Dondra Bay, some 155 kilometers southeast of the capital. The facility would be used to monitor the Indian presence in the Indian Ocean, including the activities of the Indian Navy, strategic resources in the southern and eastern parts of the subcontinent, including the Kudankulam and Kalpakkam nuclear power plants, and military supply activities.

Some observers believe that the Dondra Bay radar could track the movements of Indian warships en route to the Andaman and Nicobar islands. Also in the crosshairs are US military operations on Diego Garcia, a British island possession that is home to a naval base used by Washington and London.

Prasad Senanayake, a Colombo-based think tank analyst, revealed to that “people familiar with the Chinese initiative are of the opinion that the installation of powerful radars, if carried out, would threaten India’s military outposts.”

Academic Dhanushka Kahawita explained that “Sri Lanka is skeptical of Chinese activities in the region, but is vulnerable due to its accumulated debt to Beijing.” With Colombo unable to pay its obligations, China was granted share control and a 99-year lease for the southern port of Hambantota in December 2017.

According to Sri Lankan experts Mayantha Siriwardana and Sudeshi Gamlath, “in order to unblock the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund on the restructuring of Sri Lanka’s foreign debt, China would have asked Colombo for permission to build the radar station, just as it had already done with Argentina”. In exchange for financial aid, in recent years Buenos Aires has granted the Chinese the management of a satellite base in Patagonia.

With the help of its radar, China will also be able to spy on the Indian space station in Sriharikota (Andra Pradesh), the missile range in Chandipur (Orissa) and several other military bases in Delhi, as well as control its own satellites in space.” Siriwardana and Gamlath.

In August, the Chinese surveillance ship Yuan Wang 5 docked for six days at the port of Hambantota for logistics and resupply operations, despite India’s warnings to Colombo. Since then, the Indian government has further intensified the level of attention to Chinese movements in the region.

Several academics pointed out that Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh recently tipped off Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a secret 12-page report by Navy 007 about China’s attempt to set up a radar base in Sri Lanka. According to them, Beijing “is negotiating with Colombo to obtain the lease of Dondra Bay for 99 years, similar to what happened with the port of Hambantota.”