Sri Lanka's call to allow Chinese ship cleared by Gotabaya Rajapaksa

New Delhi: Sri Lanka's decision to allow spy ship Yuan Wang 5 at the Hambotata Port was reportedly taken at the level of Gotabaya Rajapaksa before he fled the country and China had exploited Lanka's economic vulnerabilities to influence Colombo's decision.

Beijing has allegedly exploited Colombo's requirements to overcome economic crisis and pushed the Gotabaya government to enable docking of the spy ship, ET has learnt.

The succeeding government of Ranil Wickremesignhe is not in a position to overturn the decision given the fact that Colombo requires financial support from China to overcome the current economic crisis, ET has further learnt.

Meanwhile, India has reached out to military officials near the Hambantota Port ahead of 'Yuan Wang 5' visit to the port from August 11 to 17.