China has sent another spy ship into the Indian Ocean, just days before India's planned missile test. Three months ago, another ship docked at the Sri Lankan port of Hambantota, which was seen by India as a major threat to its critical infrastructure in the south.

According to the defence sources cited by the NDTV report, the Indian Navy has been “actively watching” the movement of the Chinese espionage ship Yuan Wang VI for several days.

The Chinese Navy's spy ships in these waters are of the same class and are meant to monitor missile tests and satellite movement.

According to MarineTraffic, an internet service that tracks ships, the Yuan Wang VI has already entered the Indian Ocean and is travelling off the coast of Bali.

The arrival of the Yuan Wang VI coincides with India's issuance of a NOTAM, or Notice to Airmen, stating its plan to test a missile on a specific day and time.

According to top Open-Source Intelligence specialist Damien Symon, the coordinates of this proposed test indicate that a missile may be fired from Abdul Kalam Island off the coast of Odisha between November 10-11, with a range of 2,200 kilometres.

As a result, an area between Sri Lanka to the west and Indonesia to the east has been designated a no-fly zone, where the missile will be tested.

India is concerned that China may now be attempting to track the missile it is going to test, gaining important information about its capabilities such as trajectory, speed, range and accuracy.

India often conducts ballistic missile tests off the coast of Wheeler Island, a designated missile test area.

The Yuan Wang V, a sister ship of this vessel, docked at the Sri Lankan port of Hambantota in August before returning to the South China Sea.

India is concerned not just about the deployment of ships of the Yuan Wang class, but also about Hambantota port, which was leased to China Merchant Port Holdings for 99 years after Sri Lanka was unable to repay loans borrowed for development. As a result, there is ongoing concern that recent activities by the ship are focused on gathering sensitive data and used for military purposes.

China, which is embroiled in a border dispute with India, wields considerable power over Sri Lanka as its primary creditor through infrastructure investments. On the other hand, India has been Sri Lanka's lifeline during its crippling economic crisis.

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