A Chinese spy ship, masquerading as a 'research' vessel, is en route to Maldives and has set alarm bells ringing in New Delhi, amid a simmering row with Male that erupted this month after three Maldivian ministers made comments critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Marine Tracker app shows the Chinese ship now sailing off the coast of Indonesia after having navigated the Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra, and it is due in Male on February 8. According to leading Geospatial expert Damien Symon, the ship surveyed these waters in 2019 and 2020.
