India's ties with the Maldives seemed set to take another hit with Male effectively declaring that it would allow a dual use "spy" Chinese vessel, Xiang Yang Hong 03, to make a port call, regardless of Delhi's concerns about the vessel's research activities.

The Maldives foreign ministry on Tuesday said the port call was meant only for rotation of personnel and replenishment, and that the vessel would not conduct research in Maldivian waters.

After repeated objections by India, Sri Lanka, another Indian Ocean neighbour, had announced earlier this year a 1-year moratorium on such visits by research/ survey ships that can accumulate data for both scientific and military purposes.

According to Male's statement, the Maldives has always been a welcoming destination for vessels of friendly countries, and continues to host both civilian and military vessels making port calls for peaceful purposes.

The vessel is expected to arrive in the Maldives anytime in the first week of February. The announcement also came days after a meeting that President Mohamed Muizzu had with the chief of the US Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral John Acquilino. The commander had in the meeting spoken about the "longstanding relationship'' between the two countries and reiterated the US commitment to strengthening Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF). It's not known though if he also voiced US concerns about the alleged collection of data by Chinese research vessels in the Indian Ocean for military purposes.

The ship's docking will likely deepen Maldives' discord with India over its efforts to limit defence cooperation with Delhi, even as Muizzu claims that India will continue to play a key role in supporting MNDF. After he asked India to pull out its troops, the Maldives also reneged on its agreement with India that allowed the Indian Navy to carry out hydrographic surveys in Maldivian waters.

(With inputs from agencies)