Shanghai/New Delhi: A Chinese news portal has claimed that 11 Chinese warships sailed into the East Indian Ocean this month amid a constitutional crisis in the Maldives, which snubbed India on Tuesday and extended a state of emergency.

Indian Navy sources contested the report on the movement of the Chinese ships. "We deny such reports.... India is keeping a close eye on the Chinese naval movements in the Indian Ocean and is yet to find any alarming deployments," a source said in New Delhi.

Sina.com.cn, the Chinese portal, reported that a fleet of destroyers and at least one frigate, a 30,000-tone amphibious transport dock and three support tankers entered the Indian Ocean. The portal did not link the deployment to the crisis in the Maldives or give a reason.

"If you look at warships and other equipment, the gap between the Indian and Chinese navy is not large," Sina.com.cn said on Sunday. It did not say when the fleet had been deployed.

On Friday, the People's Liberation Army had posted photos and a report on rescue training exercises taking place in the East Indian Ocean.

Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen had signed up for Beijing's Belt and Road initiative to build trade and transport links.

On Tuesday, the Maldivian government refused to live up to India's "expectation" that it would not seek an extension to the emergency. Parliament green-lighted Yameen's request and extended the emergency for 30 days.

A few hours earlier, the Indian foreign ministry had articulated "our expectation that the Government of Maldives will not be seeking extension of the state of emergency...."

Foreign policy observers were surprised by New Delhi's decision to stick its neck out and issue the statement as the writing on the wall was clear since Monday when Yameen approached an engineered Parliament to seek the extension.