India monitors Chinese oil search in Bangladesh

Conducting surveillance in Bay of Bengal

Special Correspondent: Chinese exploration vessel ‘Hai Yang Shi Yu 760’ is searching for oil and gas in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Bangladesh. The Indian Navy has said that it is closely monitoring the movement of the Chinese ship in the Bay of Bengal.
Indian media WION reported that this Chinese-owned seismic survey ship entered the Indian Ocean through the Strait of Malacca on December 29. It has been exploring for oil and gas in Bangladesh’s EEZ since January. The search will continue until next May. However, since the ship is from China, India is keeping a careful eye on it. Although multiple sources said that the Chinese ship has not yet entered India’s EEZ, but they are monitoring it closely.
Earlier in August last year, a Chinese ship named Yuan Wang 5 arrived at Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port. New Delhi expressed concern about its security at that time. The ship is also claimed by India to be a
surveillance ship. The presence of Chinese ships in the Indian Ocean has been increasing in recent times. As a result, Indian Navy has also become more active than before. There have also been allegations of Chinese vessels fishing illegally in the area.
The report also said that with China’s growing presence in the Indian Ocean, the Indian Navy is also significantly increasing its maritime presence and surveillance. The Indian Navy’s Information Fusion Center at Gurugram monitors movements in the Indian Ocean. This information center was inaugurated in 2018 in order to know as quickly as possible about the happenings in the sea in the region.