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The move comes after a Chinese research ship was expelled by India when it was caught operating without permission in waters near Port Blair, capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Officials in Beijing posted a notice on the Foreign Ministry website warning Chinese institutions, groups and individuals aiming to conduct marine science research in other countries’ territory that they would need “an explicit statement of consent” from that country.

The notice said: “Institutions or individuals must comply with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), obey the law of the country, follow the research programme approved by the coastal state, and shall not conduct scientific research in the waters under foreign administration without making application or without the application being approved.” The announcement comes six days after the Indian Navy issued a report confirming it had challenged Chinese research ship Experiment 1 which was operating in the area without permission. Indian naval chief Admiral Karambir Singh said: “Our stance has been that if you do anything in our region, you have to notify us or get our permission.”

A Chinese research vessel

Experiment-1 had been spotted by an Indian maritime surveillance aircraft while carrying out research activities in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. After an Indian warship approached it to issue warnings, the Chinese vessel retreated from the area. China has greatly increased its presence in the Indian Ocean in recent years causing much concern in Delhi. Admiral Singh said seven or eight Chinese ships could be found in the region at any given time. READ MORE:China orders all American computers to be trashed amid trade war

Beijing has ordered scientific researchers to get permission to work in foreign waters

Because of their strategic location between the Bay of Bengal and the Malacca Strait, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands provide a base for Delhi to monitor activity in the Indian Ocean and across Southeast Asia. The military reacted swiftly to the presence of the Chinese vessel as it was possible it might have been spying. More than 100,000 vessels a year travel through the Malacca Strait, which connects the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean. About 60 per cent of that traffic is en route to or from China.

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Since 2008 the Chinese military has maintained a fleet of vessels in the busy waterway to serve as escorts for commercial vessels against the threat of piracy. In 2016, China’s Type 093 nuclear-powered submarine was photographed sailing through the strait and in the Indian Ocean. The 3,000-tonne Experiment-1 is one of China’s most advanced scientific research ships. The Chinese Academy of Sciences, which owns and operates the vessel, said it is capable of carrying up to 45 scientists and is fitted with more than a dozen laboratories. DON'T MISS

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A Chinese research vessel was recently expelled from Indian waters