Sri Lanka has finalised a draft standard operating procedure (SOP) for handling foreign research vessels and sent it to the Attorney General’s Department, Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath said, with the full framework expected to be in place within two months.
“We have finalised the SOP and given it to Attorney General Department,” Herath told EconomyNext, confirming the most concrete movement on the long-delayed policy since the National People’s Power government took office.
The procedure closes a policy vacuum that opened in January 2025 when a one-year moratorium imposed by the previous Wickremesinghe administration in December 2023 lapsed without replacement. The moratorium had been put in place after Chinese research vessels visited Sri Lankan waters on two occasions within 14 months, triggering strong objections from the United States and India on Indian Ocean security grounds.
Committee took over a year
The Dissanayake cabinet appointed a committee in January 2025 to draft a new SOP, chaired by Herath himself. The committee’s work was repeatedly delayed, leaving research vessel visits in limbo for more than a year and exposing the government to diplomatic pressure from both Washington and New Delhi — the two QUAD partners that pushed hardest for the original moratorium.
China line held separately
Colombo has maintained a parallel track with Beijing, agreeing to sign a memorandum of understanding on maritime cooperation despite the SOP delays. A separate Defence Cooperation MOU signed in April 2025 commits the two governments to exchange information in maritime and other domains by mutual consent.
Herath has previously stated that Sri Lanka is not legally required to inform India about the arrival of foreign vessels, though he acknowledged successive governments had done so informally to manage the bilateral relationship. The new SOP is expected to formalise criteria under which any foreign research vessel — Chinese, Indian or otherwise — may enter Sri Lankan waters.
