INDIA
- MALDIVES RELATIONS – INTERNATIOAL
News:
Ahead of Maldives poll
run-off, India ties remain key issue
What's
in the news?
●
Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed
Solih’s close India ties dominated the campaign trail on the eve of election
run-off in the island nation, with frontrunner and Opposition candidate Mohamed
Muizzu promising to “safeguard the country’s independence and sovereignty”.
Backdrop
of India - Maldives Relations:
●
India and Maldives are neighbours sharing a maritime border.
●
Both nations established diplomatic
relations after the independence of Maldives from British rule in 1966.
●
India was one of the first nations to
recognize Maldives independence.
●
Since then, India and Maldives have developed close strategic, military, economic
and cultural relations.
●
Maldivians generally regard Indians and
India as a friend and trusted neighbour in the field economic, social and
political.
Anti-India
sentiments:
●
‘India
Out’ campaign in Maldives had started sometime last
year as on-ground protests in the Maldives and later widely spread across
social media platforms under the same hashtag.
●
It is not related to people-to-people
conflict (Indian diaspora) but is discontent on close relationship between
Maldivian government & India.
Causes
for the Anti-India sentiments:
1.
Political instability:
●
The anti-India sentiment is nearly a
decade old and can be traced back to when Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom became
president in 2013.
●
He used
anti-India sentiments for his political mobilization and started tilting China.
2.
Controversy over helicopter gift:
●
Two
Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopters (ALF) were given by India to
the Maldives for ocean search-and-rescue operations.
●
Opposition tried to portray this as a
military presence in the country.
3.
Confidential agreements:
●
Most agreements being signed between the
Ibrahim Solih government and India are under backdoors and have not been
publicly discussed in the Maldives Parliament.
4.
Alleged interference in domestic politics:
●
India being a big neighbour, there are
unsubstantiated perceptions & allegations on Indian Diplomats stationed in Maldives
interfering in Domestic affairs.
Recent
gestures by India:
1.
2014 Male drinking-water crisis:
●
In the wake of a drinking water crisis in
Male in December 2014, following collapse of the island’s only water treatment
plant, Maldives urged India for immediate help.
●
India came to rescue by sending its heavy
lift transporters like C-17 Globemaster III, Il-76 carrying bottled water.
2.
2020 Covid-19 crisis:
●
During the COVID-19 crisis of 2020, India
extended help to Maldives in the form of financial,
material and logistical support.
●
Also, the IAF airlifted 6.2 tonnes of
essential medicines and hospital consumables to Maldives, as part of ‘Operation Sanjeevani’.
3.
Greater Male Connectivity Project:
●
India has recently announced the signing
of a $500-million infrastructure project
for the construction of the Greater Male Connectivity Project (GMCP).
●
This infrastructure project, the
largest-ever by India in the Maldives, involves the construction of a
6.74-km-long bridge and causeway link.
Why
is Maldives significant for India?
1.
Increasing maritime cooperation:
●
As maritime economic activity in the
Indian Ocean has risen dramatically in recent decades, the geopolitical competition in the Indian Ocean has intensified.
2.
Toll Gate in Indian Ocean:
●
It is situated at the hub of commercial
sea-lanes running through the Indian Ocean.
●
More
than 97% of India’s international trade by volume and 75% by value passes
through the region.
3.
Naval cooperation:
●
Maldives is an important partner in
India’s role as the net security
provider in the Indian Ocean Region.
4.
Important SAARC member:
●
Besides, Maldives is a member of the South
Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and the South Asia Subregional
Economic Cooperation (SASEC).
5.
People-to-people contact:
●
There is a significant population of
Maldivian students in India.
●
They are aided by a liberal visa-free regime extended by India. There is also medical
tourism.
6.
Major destination for tourists:
●
Tourism is the mainstay of the Maldivian
economy.
●
The country is now a major tourist
destination for some Indians and a job destination for others.
Challenges
in India - Maldives Relations:
1.
Political Instability:
●
India’s major concern has been the impact
of political instability in the neighbourhood on its security and development.
2.
Increasing radicalization:
●
In the past decade or so, the number of
Maldivians drawn towards terrorist groups like the Islamic State (IS) and
Pakistan-based jihadist groups has been increasing.
3.
Inclination towards terror:
●
Radicalism in the island nation has
increased the possibility of Pakistan based terror groups using remote
Maldivian islands as a launch pad for terror attacks against India and Indian interests.
4.
Chinese affinity:
●
China’s strategic footprint in India’s
neighbourhood has increased. The Maldives has emerged as an important ‘pearl’
in China’s “String of Pearls” construct
in South Asia.
Agreements
signed between India and Maldives:
●
The MoU signed on cyber security aims to
promote closer cooperation and exchange of information pertaining to cyber security in accordance with our
domestic laws, rules and regulation and based on equality, reciprocity and
mutual benefit.
●
Both sides exchanged agreements covering
areas like women and child development,
disaster management and infrastructure development.
●
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President
Solih participated remotely in the pouring of the first concrete of the Greater
Male Connectivity Project (GMCP) that would include a 6.74 km bridge and the
causeway linking capital Male with the neighbouring islands.
●
Both sides affirmed their will to
strengthen ties to take on “transnational
crimes and terrorism” in the Indian Ocean region.
●
To strengthen Maldivian maritime capacity,
India gifted a second landing assault
craft to the Maldives National Defence Force.
●
India
operationalised Rupay card in Maldives and also works in the areas like
fisheries, education, health tourism and disaster resilience infrastructure.
Maldives-India relation,
goes beyond diplomacy. Our values, our cultures and our histories are
intertwined, making it a traditional relationship. Our centuries-old
relationship has grown with political trust, economic relations.