Indian Navy drives away Chinese 'spy' vessel from Indian waters

The Indian Navy recently drove away a suspicious Chinese vessel operating in Indian waters near Port Blair region in Andaman and Nicobar Islands territories. The Chinese vessel 'Shi Yan 1' was running an operation in Indian waters and was asked to retreat by the Indian Navy.

The issue came to light when maritime surveillance aircraft detected the Chinese vessel and found out that it was carrying out spying activities in Indian's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), following which it was expelled from the zone.

The suspicious Chinese vessels was apparently monitoring all underwater and surface vessels of the Indian Navy in the region. As per India as well as international laws, no foreign country can do research or exploration activities in India's EEZ.

The Indian Navy always keeps a constant vigil against Chinese vessels operating in Indian waters. The Andaman region is also considered to be strategic islands due to its location from where India can keep an eye on Indian Ocean Region and South East Asia. There has been an increasing trend of Chinese vessels in Indian waters. Recently, the Indian Navy's P-81 maritime surveillance aircraft had also detected a Chinese Navy warship around Indian Ocean region.

Meanwhile, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh has said that the presence of China in Indian Ocean region is increasing and the Indian Navy is "constantly watching it".