The Maldives and India’s bilateral relations, which have reached an all-time low in recent weeks, have deteriorated even worse as Male requested in writing that Delhi remove its soldiers from the island country by March 15.

At the first meeting of a high-level core group between the two parties, which took place on Sunday in Male, the capital of the Maldives, the need was made clear.

“Indian soldiers are not permitted to remain in the Maldives. According to Abdulla Nazim Ibrahim, the public policy secretary in President Mohamed Muizzu’s office, it is the administration’s policy.

About eighty Indian troops are stationed in the Maldives, where Delhi claims they are there to operate and maintain two rescue and reconnaissance helicopters as well as a Dornier aircraft that it provided many years ago.

The new head of the Maldives wants the Indian soldiers to go.

Mr. Muizzu, who assumed office in mid-November, had promised during the election to remove Indian military forces from the island nation. His ‘India out’ program, which promised to withdraw Indian soldiers and lessen Delhi’s power, was the focal point of his campaign.

Officials from the two nations reportedly talked about “finding mutually workable solutions to enable continued operation of Indian aviation platforms that provide humanitarian aid and medvac [medical evacuation] services to the people of Maldives” on Sunday, according to Delhi.

However, the statement from the Indian foreign ministry made no mention of a deadline for the soldiers’ departure from the islands.

The meeting between the Maldives and India happened the day after Mr. Muizzu returned from a state visit to China, where he had meetings with senior officials, including President Xi Jinping. Beijing and Male decided to expand their relationship to the level of a comprehensive strategic alliance.

A rift had emerged between the Maldives and India before to Mr. Muizzu’s visit when three deputy ministers in the Maldives made disparaging remarks about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media. The three ministers were suspended after a commotion.

However, when Mr. Muizzu spoke at a press conference upon his return from Beijing, his tone was belligerent.

He said that the Maldives will diversify its foreign medical services and food imports, presumably to lessen its reliance on India.

Along with announcing intentions to import food from Turkey and medications from the US and Europe, Mr. Muizzu also mentioned that Maldivians who qualified for state health insurance may seek treatment in Dubai or Thailand. The majority of travelers currently go to Sri Lanka and India.

We are not a nation that exists in another nation’s backyard. We are a sovereign nation,” he said.

The last words said by Mr. Muizzu were, “We may be small, but that doesn’t give you the licence to bully us.”

This was interpreted as a reaction to the fierce social media backlash that the deputy ministers’ divisive remarks about Mr. Modi caused in India. Throughout the whole previous week, hashtags advocating for a boycott of the Maldives were prominent on Indian social media.

Debates on India’s ‘boycott’ of the Maldives

According to analysts, these could be Mr. Muizzu’s sharpest remarks since taking office, suggesting a non-India-centric foreign policy path.

Political analyst Azim Zahir of the Maldives told the BBC that it is “counterproductive for the president to make such public comments implicating the Maldives’s closest bilateral partner, Delhi, if Male is seeking a diplomatic solution to the existing difference.”

He stated that such remarks “could cause irreversible damage to the India-Maldives relations”.

Many Maldivians think Mr. Muizzu’s ambitions to lessen reliance on India for medication and food imports are unrealistic.

It is possible to carry food from all around the world, including Turkey. But is it cost-effective? The cost of transportation will be more than the cost of importing food from India,” Democratic Party senior leader Ali Azim said.

He went on to say that Mr. Muizzu was attempting to incite “anti-India sentiments” in advance of the upcoming March parliamentary elections.

 

by HHN