A Chinese research vessel arrived in the Maldives on Thursday, Reuters reported quoting global ship-tracking data.
The data further showed that before its arrival, the Xiang Yang Hong 03 spent more than three weeks surveying waters just outside the exclusive economic zones of India, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka.
The Chinese foreign ministry has reiterated that the civilian ship was exclusively" for peaceful purposes to benefit scientific understanding.
India has been expressing its concerns over the presence of China's research vessels in the Indian Ocean.
The Maldives has said the vessel would do no research in its waters, stopping only for personnel rotation and replenishment of supplies.
The visit comes after a US think tank in January said that the Chinese Navy may "leverage the insights gained from these missions" for the deployment of naval forces, a claim Beijing termed it an image-smearing "China threat" narrative.
According to Reuters, Hong 03 has visited the Indian Ocean multiple times.
It sailed through the Sunda Strait in Indonesia in 2021, alarming Indonesian authorities, who said it had switched off its tracking system three times.
Chinese research vessels have also stopped in nearby Sri Lanka. In 2022, Yuan Wang 5, a military vessel capable of tracking rocket and missile launches, arrived in Colombo, alarming India.
The last time a Chinese research vessel docked in Sri Lanka was in October 2023, reviving India's concerns. But in January, the island nation imposed a year-long moratorium on foreign research ships, effectively denying China a port of call.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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