Colombo (News1st): A joint mission mapping the sea borders of Sri Lanka is being carried out by the Sri Lanka Navy together with the Indian Navy.

The Indian Naval naval ship INS ‘Jamuna’ that arrived at the Colombo port on the 20th of December, 2018 undertook a hydro-graphic survey for 15 days inspecting the coastline from Colombo to Galle. The Sri Lanka Navy stated that this ship arrived at the Galle port on the 4th of this month. INS ‘Jamuna’ has the technical advancement of mapping the deep seas.

Responding to News1st inquires the Naval Media Spokesperson Lieutenant Commander Isuru Suriyabandara stated that the ship will be mapping the deep seas of the south for 2 weeks starting tomorrow (January 7) with a team of naval cadets. The Indian Naval Ship ‘Jamuna’ will leave the island in February.

Director of the Bandaranaike Center for International Studies, Harinda Vidanage speaking about INS ‘Jamuna’ stated that it was one of the first ships to arrive in Sri Lanka following the Tsunami in 2004. Hence, ever since the ship has been known to Sri Lankans as the sea survey ship.

He noted that the vessel has the ability to examine the seabed and the entire biodiversity of the ocean, it is also capable of collecting all the data from the oceans. He added that its capabilities are not limited to mere measurements and it can identify issues faced by the coastal areas using these same measurements.

Vidanage noted that this is where the question of Sri Lanka’s sovereignty arises. He added that our sovereignty affairs, national aspirations, national resources, are been threatened to a certain extent when a third party gets involved.

Vidanage went onto note that Sri Lanka will be confronted with a number of challenges by allowing an Indian Ship to conduct hydrographic surveys in our oceans.