India’s rejuvenation of ties with Maldives despite New
Delhi’s serious reservations to the current regime’s brutal trampling of
democratic process is a testimony to “Neighborhood First” doctrine advocated by
Modi. The two-day visit of Maldives President Adbulla Yameena Abdul Gayoom to
New Delhi on April 10th with a proclamation of “India first policy”
assumes greater strategic importance with the Archipelago overtly drawn into
Beijing’s embrace. Just days ahead of Maldives President Visit, official
reports emerged indicating Male’s unequivocal submission to Beijing’s
Maritime’s expansion that can be deleterious to India’s strategic interests.
The reports suggest that China Maldives is all to set allow China to build a
port in the Southernmost Laamu Atolls posing a serious threat to India’s
interest in the Indian Ocean Region. It is also believed that Maldives is
contemplating on approving China’s plans of building a port at Gadhoo Island in
a Southern Atoll. The island has greater maritime significance, for it lies on
the one and half degree channel, which is a major international shipping
passage going through Maldives. Ever since the change of regime, Maldives
interests have shifted drastically with Abdulla Yameen increasingly leaning on
China. This was reflected in sudden surge of investments in infrastructure
development by the China in the island. Located in Indian Ocean, the
Archipelago is strategically poignant and is ideally suited for the Chinese
Pearls of String concept. President Xi, realizing the strategic importance of
the Archipelago, revved up ties with Maldives and made it an indispensable
partner of his Maritime Silk Route. Currently, Maldives owes 70% of its
external debt to China and is highly dependent on its financial largesse.
Indian strategists have been highly critical of the burgeoning Sino-Maldivian
bilateral ties that escalated the port building spree of China in India’s back
yard. Hence the Indian diplomatic community has deep apprehensions over the
tall proclamations of India First Policy enunciated by the visiting Maldivian
President. This is Yameen’s third visit to India since he assumed the office in
2013. He visited India twice in 2014.
Indo-Maldivian bilateral relations had gone for a toss with
Prime Minister Narendra Modi cancelling his scheduled bilateral visit to the
island in March 2015 (as a part of four nation visit to Indian Ocean neighbors)
following Island’s oppressive internal conflicts. Within months of cancellation
of visit, India lost no time in reviving ties. Foreign Secretary Jaishankar
Subramanyam embarked on SAARC yatra which included Maldives and this was
immediately followed by a visit by Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj
to the island. Situated to the south of Lakshadweep, spread in an area of
90,000 sq km and comprising of 1200 islands, Maldives has an unparalleled
strategic importance in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). India was among one of
the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with Maldives in 1965
after it attained independence from the British. As friendly neighbors both
countries share longstanding cultural, ethnic, linguistic, religious and trade
links. India setup embassy at Male in 1972 and amicably resolved maritime
boundary in 1976. As founding members of South Asia Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC) and South Asian Economic Forum both countries consolidated
trade relations by signing South Asia Free Trade Agreement. India always played
an effective role of security provider of Maldives. In 1988 responding to the
pleas of help from the then President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Indian Army
launched “Operation Cactus” and successfully foiled a coup in Maldives
attempted by armed militants of LTTE. Bilateral relations between the countries
expanded considerably after India thwarted the coup and at the request of
Maldivian political dispensation, India has a naval presence in the island
since 2009. India has been a leading development partner in Maldives and
actively contributed to infrastructure development, health, civil aviation and
telecommunications. India has gifted Trinkat Class Fast Attack craft to
Maldives Coast Guards. Indian Coast Guard’s Dornier was indeed the first to
reach the island with supplies and relief when the island was stuck by tsunami
in 2004. More recently in 2015, when the island’s lone sea water treatment
plant was gutted down in a fire accident India dispatched several gallons of
fresh water to Maldives.
Ever since the arrest of the first democratically elected
pro-India, leader President Mohammed Nasheed, on charges of terrorism in
February 2015 who was sentenced to 13 years of jail, bilateral relations
glaciated. Nasheed, who sought refuge in the Indian Embassy at Male was
arrested by the current President and half-brother of former President Abdul
Gayoom, Adbulla Yameena. By arresting former President Nasheed, Abdulla Yameena
stifled the voices of democracy. He eliminated all his rivals cleverly. He
impeached two Supreme Court judges who didn’t support repeated postponement of
Presidential elections, sacked an attorney-journal for exposing the
disproportionate assets of his right-hand man, Ahmed Adeeb, and arrested
defence minister for “plotting a coup”. In order to have unbridled power to
amend legislations that can facilitate absolute authority, he lured the opposition
and got the required numbers to pass legislations in the Majlis (Parliament). He
agreed to commute Nasheed’s imprisonment to house arrest and obliged to enter
into talks with opposition. Accordingly, Nasheed was shifted home for just a
month and was later sent back to jail. He reneged on his promise of peace talks
with the opposition as well. These legislations included limiting the age of
Presidential candidate, a constitutional amendment wherein any foreign company/individual
who invests more than $1 billion in the island and reclaims over 70% land used
for the project can buy land (to favor China). In the meanwhile, he awarded the
Ihavandhippolhu Integrated development project (iHavan) designed for the northern
most atoll and the expansion of the International Airport Male originally
awarded to GMR group to China. iHavan designed for the atoll located on the
seven-degree channel through which east-west shipping route operates, connects
South East Asian and China to Middle-East and Europe.
Besides, drifting towards China another excruciating aspect
of the island that can threaten regional interests are its new found passion
for radical Islam. In 1997, Abdul Gayoom declared Maldives as an Islam nation
and shielded it effectively from the modern influences despite the island being
the favorite global tourist destination. Under the despotic Yameen regime,
Islamic orthodoxy has reached new heights. Besides scuttling the democratic
voices on the island, he even closed the island’s lone newspaper. The island
slowly and steadily slipped into Riyadh’s embrace. Maldivian society which was
hailed as liberal society is now largely conservative. Yameen enamored by Saudi
Arabia has sought Riaydh’s cooperation for deepening cultural and educational
cooperation. Saudi Arabia in turn has promised to extend scholarships to
Maldivian youth for Islamic education, offered to construct mosques and send
the Imams to train the local religious leaders. As a result, Maldives has now
turned into a new breeding ground for Wahhabi ideology and reports indicate
that millions of young Maldivians are indoctrinated with the radical Islam
tenets. For decades by pumping immense reserves of Petrodollars Saudi Arabia
unleashed a campaign of spreading its radical ideology across South Asia and Maldives
joined the list now. In 2007 Kerala police arrested a Maldivian youth accused
of Male bomb blast. Kerala, a hot bed of radical Islam groups maintains close
links with Maldives and an inflow of radical ideology might be inimical to
India. New reports indicate that 40 youth from Maldives travelled to Syria to
fight along IS. India should be really worried about the Kerala links with the
Island’s radical groups that might have direct implications on India’s internal
security. Insiders suggest that the reports gave a conservative estimate but the
real numbers might be in hundreds. In 2014, Crown Prince Salman on his visit to
Maldives, (two atolls were exclusively reserved for him cancelling all the
outstanding reservations for two months), he pledged $1.2 million for
construction of 10 world class mosques, donated $1.5 million for health sector
and $1 million for Islamic Waqf board. In the meanwhile, Yameen is trying to
build defence with Pakistan as well. With a population of just 3,50,000
Maldives, a tiny Archipelago in the Indian Ocean threatens to disrupt the
regional peace and strategic interests with its religious overtures. Former
Maldivian President once lamented that island’s youth are now increasingly
drawn towards IS as hordes of them are leaving the island for Syria and Iraq.
China seems to have no qualms over islands “infatuation” towards Saudi Arabia.
But the latest developments in in tiny islands might have “cascading effect” on
the maritime security of Indian Ocean Region.
Meanwhile, the seamless authority and unbridled power of
Yameen has critically changed the democratic contours of the island. A state of
turmoil prevailed in Maldives after Yameen declared national emergency in
November. The severe wave of democratic protests and subsequent contemptible
crackdown meted by the opposition appalled the human rights organizations. In
January 2016, Nasheed appealed to the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group
(CMAG) for remission of jail sentence. With his case taken forward by high
profile lawyer Amal Clooney, Maldives caught international attention. President
Yameen in his current visit to Delhi thanked India for protecting the island
from the “possible punitive action” by the CMAG. India was part of the three
member CMAG team that visited Maldives in Feburary. India didn’t chide Maldives
publicly and this averted suspension from the Common Wealth Group. As a big neighbor India has a commendable
record of rescuing smaller nations in its immediate neighborhood at the hour of
crisis but Maldives and Nepal often blame India of interfering in its internal
affairs. Interestingly, the representative heads of both the countries visited
India and acknowledged India’s support. Despite serious misgivings with Male,
India has decided to shed its reservations and reiterated its commitment to
renew ties with Maldives. India and Maldives signed six pacts. Agreements on
defence cooperation and expansion of cooperation on counter terrorism topped
the agenda. Other major agreements include- agreement on avoidance of double
taxation, exchange of information with respect to taxes, coordinating towards
the commissioning of the SAARC satellite, MoU for cooperation in restoration of
old mosques and joint research and explorations and cooperation in tourism.
Modi promised to speed up Indian infrastructure projects undertaken in Maldives
and promised all assistance as “strategic interests of both countries are
interlinked”. Modi’s pragmatic diplomacy of re-engaging with Maldives shedding
its big brother kind of attitude can play rich dividends. Clearly India has
realized the strategic importance of Maldives in the wake of growing Chinese
presence in IOR. By renewing bilateral defence cooperation India has bolstered
relations with its SAARC neighbor.
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