Indians unable to access Maldives Foreign Ministry website amid row over Chinese research vessel
New Delhi: The Maldivian foreign ministry has blocked access to its website for Indians amid a fresh row over a Chinese research vessel which is expected to reach the Maldives in days.
The development comes as the India-Maldives diplomatic ties are at an all-time low after the election of Mohamed Muizzu as the President of the island nation.
The relations between India and Maldives have reached a new low following a row over derogatory comments made by Maldives’ deputy minister regarding Indian PM Modi’s visit to Lakshadweep and Maldives’ call for the withdrawal of Indian troops by March 15, 2024. Conversely, China-Maldives relations have soared to new heights, culminating in the agreement on a “comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership” during the Maldives President’s visit to China in the second week of January. Given the diminishing likelihood of Maldives maintaining a delicate balance between the two Asian giants, the future of India-Maldives relations appears to be inversely proportional to Maldives’ ties with China.
The 2023 Presidential election in the Maldives was characterised by the international media as a contest between India and China, as the two leading candidates showed clear affiliations with the two major powers. The then-president Mohamed Salih was seen as pro-Indian due to his “India First” policy, while contestant Mohamed Muizzu was regarded as pro-Chinese owing to his “India Out” campaign. Ultimately, Mohamed Muizzu emerged victorious, riding the wave of the “India Out” campaign.
India expressed its discontent by sending a low-profile minister to Muizzu’s swearing-in ceremony. In turn, the new Maldivian president didn’t hesitate to formally request the visiting Indian minister to recall their military staff during their meeting the day after the ceremony. It’s worth noting that Indian PM Modi attended the oath-taking ceremony of the former President Salih. Since then, there have been several attempts to arrest the free-fall in the relationship between the two countries, but so far, the outcome remains to be seen.
In the near future, it appears that Muizzu is determined to break free from his country’s reliance on India. Apart from pressing for the withdrawal of the Indian military from the island, his government has chosen not to renew a hydrographic survey deal with India. This decision aligns with his electoral commitment to terminate all agreements with foreign parties, particularly India. The pact, inked during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2019 visit to the islands, was viewed as a symbolic representation of India-Maldives defence ties. India interprets the withdrawal of Indian hydrographic ships from Maldivian waters as an action designed to support China’s marine surveys of the surrounding seas, a critical component in advancing its anti-submarine warfare capabilities.
New Delhi is also closely monitoring the movement of a Chinese ship, which is en route to the Maldives and is expected to reach Male by 8 February
The deteriorating relations between India and Maldives doesn’t go well with India’s tussle with China in the Indian Ocean Region as Chinese vessels were earlier spotted in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Djibouti. Maldives fits perfectly in China’s ‘String of Pearls’ strategy which encircles India for domination of the Indian Ocean.
