China defended its military relationship with Sri Lanka as good for regional peace and stability after Sri Lanka rejected a request from China to dock one of its submarines in Colombo this month.
Sri Lanka last allowed a Chinese submarine to dock in the capital of Colombo in October 2014, a move that triggered fierce opposition from its northern neighbour India, which worries about growing Chinese activity in a country it has long viewed as part of its area of influence.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Sri Lanka on Thursday for a two-day official visit.
China’s Defence Ministry, in a statement sent to Reuters, did not directly mention the rejected request for the submarine visit, but said its submarines needed a place to resupply on their way to anti-piracy missions.
« The stopping to resupply of our military’s submarines that are on their way to the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters for protection missions is an internationally accepted practice, » the ministry said.
In recent years, the Chinese and Sri Lankan militaries had had fruitful and effective cooperation in areas like mutual visits and training, it added.
« The cooperation between the Chinese and Sri Lankan militaries is beneficial to regional peace and stability, is not aimed at any third party and should not be interfered in by a third party, » the ministry said, without elaborating.
