In recent months, Sri Lanka has found itself at the center of an escalating geopolitical storm, which seems to have prompted it to impose a one-year moratorium on foreign research vessels. Behind this seemingly local decision looms the intensifying tensions between China and the Quad, an alliance comprising the United States, India, Japan, and Australia.

The decision is expected to affect Chinese ships the most.

The Indian Ocean has been an arena of great power competition and conflict for centuries. In recent years, it has become a theater for strategic maneuvering, where China’s expanding influence is being countered by the Quad.