In this May 24, 2014 photo, China‘s Harbin (112) guided missile destroyer, left, and DDG-139 Ningbo Sovremenny class Type-956EM destroyer, right, take part in a week-long China-Russia “Joint Sea-2014” navy exercise at the East China Sea off Shanghai, China.

Sri Lanka would consider allowing Chinese naval ships to visit again but no request has been forthcoming yet, the country’s defense secretary said on Sunday.

Sri Lanka’s previous government had caused concern in India with its close ties to Beijing, including allowing Chinese submarines to dock.

New Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena has unnerved China though with his re-examination of relations, including a $1.5-billion Chinese-invested “port city” project in the capital Colombo.

Visiting Beijing in February, Sri Lanka’s foreign minister said future visits by Chinese submarines were unlikely.

But Sri Lankan Defense Secretary Karunasena Hettiarachchi, who only took up his post last month, told Reuters in Beijing that he would give serious thought to new requests from China for naval ships to call, even if there are no plans currently.

“It has not come to my table yet. If it comes I’ll give it due consideration. If it comes in the right track we’ll consider it seriously,” he said on the sidelines of a military forum.

“If it is really interesting and worthwhile, sometimes we do combined operations and exercises with military vessels from around the world, no discrimination.”

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