After an alert from the Union government on the scheduled arrival of Yuan Wang 5, a Chinese research vessel at Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port on August 11, the Tamil Nadu police have decided to scale up security at vital installations along the coastline. The vessel is involved in space and satellite tracking and intercontinental ballistic missile launches.
Col. Nalin Herath, media spokesperson of Sri Lanka’s Defence Ministry, had earlier confirmed the vessel will be in Hambantota from August 11 to 17, “mainly for replenishment, including of fuel”.
The alert was issued to Tamil Nadu since there are many vital installations such as sea ports and nuclear power reactors along its 1,076-km coast.
