Choppy waters: On India-Maldives ties

India and the Maldives must persist with quiet diplomacy to reset ties

Within weeks of the India-Maldives showdown over derogatory (showing strong disapproval and not showing respect) remarks by Maldivian Ministers and the call for Indian tourists to boycott (to refuse to buy a product or take part in an activity as a way of expressing strong disapproval) the archipelago, as well as the tussle (to have difficult disagreements or strong arguments) over Indian troops stationed in Maldives, Delhi and Male are dealing with another controversy. This time it is over the Chinese “research” ship Xiang Yang Hong 03, that is expected to dock in Male in February. India has made its concerns over Chinese ships in the Indian Ocean clear. After objecting to visits by Chinese “research” vessels to Sri Lanka, New Delhi managed to ensure that Colombo banned, from 2024, all foreign research ships, that are believed to collect data for military and civilian purposes, from docking (to remove part of something) there. For New Delhi, the welcome mat for Chinese ships, at a time the new government of President Muizzu has scrapped (to not continue with a system or plan) the India-Maldives hydrography (the scientific study of the typical features of oceans, lakes, and rivers, and the making of maps to represent them) agreement, has played out as a rebuff (to refuse to accept a helpful suggestion or offer from someone, often by answering in an unfriendly way). Male also welcomed a visit by the commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command, who presented equipment. That the developments follow other setbacks, beginning with Mr. Muizzu’s electoral win last year after he ran with an “India Out” campaign slogan, his government’s plans to push out Indian personnel (the people who are employed in a company, organization, or one of the armed forces)and his decision to prioritise visits to Türkiye, the UAE and China have made it more worrying.

It is significant that despite Male’s pushback and hyper nationalist (extremely and unreasonably proud of your own country, and often thinking that other countries are not as good as yours) calls within India, New Delhi has not stopped engaging the Muizzu government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Mr. Muizzu in December and set up a high-level core group for bilateral (involving two groups or countries) negotiations (the process of discussing something with someone in order to reach an agreement with them, or the discussions themselves) on tricky issues. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar also met with his Maldivian counterpart (a person or thing that has the same purpose as another one in a different place or organization) last week. It is hoped that both sides realise that their tensions are merely symptoms of problems that could get larger: one, a regional power that aspires to be a global power, and the other, an archipelago dependent for its economic and regional security needs on external forces. While sovereignty (the power of a country to control its own government) is paramount (more important than anything else) for any country, it is important that the two sides see the benefit of a détente over confrontation (a fight or argument). For India, whose neighbourhood first policy focuses on helping according to its neighbour’s priorities, it is ungainly to be seen as foisting its military, that has carried out humanitarian operations, on the Maldives. For the Muizzu government, that just lost a significant election for Male mayor, the impact of the animus with India on upcoming Majlis (parliamentary) elections should also be a worry. In that sense, the Maldives decision to invite the Xiang Yang Hong 03, but not to allow it more than a routine port call is hopefully a sign that quiet diplomacy is working. A rational approach is more likely to shore troubled bilateral ties out of the choppy waters now.

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