Indian Defence Review

On 30 September 2023, Presidential election was held in the Islamic Republic of Maldives and surprisingly, an anti-Indian opposition candidate, Mohamed Muizze of People’s National Congress won by defeating President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih of the Maldivian Democratic Party, who was holding the top post since 2018.

Mohamed Muizze was sworn as the 9^th President of Maldives on 17 October 2023. The Indian delegation for the swearing in ceremony was led by Union cabinet minister, Kiren Rijiju. President Muizze had time and again mentioned during his campaign that he would ensure that the contingent of Indian Armed forces based at Male should move out from Maldives. He had conveyed the same to Union Minister Rijiju also after the swearing in ceremony.

Indo-Maldives relations were extremely cordial before the new government led by Muizze came to power. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken many steps to build a harmonious relation since the nation is an important neighbour for security of Indian strategic interests in the Indian Ocean. When the new government assumed office, he interacted with Mohamed Muizze bilaterally on the side-lines of COP 28 Summit held at Dubai (UAE) on 1 December 2023.

The Republic of Maldives comprises of 2000 low lying beautiful coral islands grouped in to 26 atolls sprawled from North to South approximately 800 kms in length and 130 kms in width on the equator in the Indian Ocean. There are only 200 islands which are inhabited and only 20 which are more than 1 square km in size.  The total land area is only 300 square kms. The islands are at 1.5 metres above sea level and it is felt that the country may submerge under water in the next 50 years due to rise in water level caused by global warming.

Male, also called the Kings Island, is the largest island town and capital of Maldives. The Velena International Airport at Hulhule island was built by the Airports Authority of India in 1988. The distance from Colombo (Sri Lanka) to Male is 764 kms. Karachi Port is 2400 km from Male. The nearest Indian city of Trivandrum Kerala was 611 kms. The distance is 2700 kms from IGI Airport, New Delhi.

Maldives was a British colony. It achieved independence on 26 July 1965 and became a Republic on 11 November 1968. The population is 5.5 Lakhs and follows Sunni Islam religion. It comprises a large number of migrants from India, Sri Lanka, China, Nepal and Bangladesh.The nearness to South India suggests that initially the population was Dravidians from India. The presence of Stupas and artefacts confirm that, during the reign of Emperor Ashoka, the inhabitants converted to Buddhism. King Darumavantu Rasefanu converted to Islam under influence of Arabian trader in 1153 CE. He was renamed as Al Sultan Muhammad Adil. The region then became Islam dominant.

The Portuguese arrived in 1500 CE as traders and built a fort at Male in 1519 CE and ruled till 1593.  It finally became a British protectorate in 1887. Sultan Muhmmad Fareed Didi terminated democracy and took over as the monarch of Maldives in 1954 and ruled till 1968. He was removed through a national referendum. Amir Ibrahim Nasir became the president in 1968 and served two terms till 1978. He fled to Singapore in 1978 due heavy unrest due to poor economic conditions. Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, was elected as the fourth President. He ruled for the next 30 years.

There were coup attempts against Gayoom in April 1981 by ex SAS mercenaries and again in 1983 by Ibrahim Maniku, but were exposed and neutralised. Maldives under Gayoom, prospered as it developed in to an attractive tourist destination, thus improving economic standards of the people. Maldives became founder member of SAARC in 1985.

Mohmad Nasheed of the Maldivian Party took over as fifth president unseating Gyoom in 2008. Mohmmad Wahid Hasan of Gaumee itthihad Hassan took over on 7 February 2012 as the sixth president midway. Adullah Yameen of the Progressive Party took over as seventh president in 2013. During his tenure, Maldives government had leaned towards China. Ibhrahim Mohammad Solih of the Maldivian Democratic Party assumed office on 17 November 2018 as the eighth president. He restored cordial relations with India. The relations improved again but now the new government has different views.

India has good diplomatic relations with Maldives being one of the first nations to recognise the new Nation in 1966. Since then, India and Maldives have developed close strategic, military, economic and cultural relations. Various bilateral treaties like maritime border treaty 1976, comprehensive trade treaty 1988, foreign trade worth 300 billion US dollars, foreign aid of 500 million dollars by SBI, between these two nations are landmarks. The new Airport Terminal at Male and Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital have been gifted to Maldives by India. The important joint project to which India has extended 50 million USD line of credit was basically for development and renovation of the harbour of Uthuru Thila Faihu Naval base. Another 500 million US $ credit for Great Male connectivity project (GMCP) to be undertaken by AFCONS, an Indian Company under which 6.74 km long bridge / causeway/road link is to be built to connect  Male to three major islands of Villingili, Gulhifalhu and Thilafushi has been envisaged.

India has always responded immediately to the various calls from Male. Operation Cactus was initiated when a coup force of 80 militants accompanied by Abdullah Luthufee left Sri Lankan shores on 30 October 1988 and attacked Male. President Abdul Gayoom cancelled his trip to India since he had an intuition that something was brewing to topple his Government. The coup force landed at Male beach unopposed on 3 November 1988 and roamed around freely in Male city freely. They were not aware that flash messages had gone to many countries USA, UK, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia and India, through Tele Line which was still working.  50 Para Brigade of India was tasked to launch operation against Coup force. President Gayoom was rescued and his government was restored within 24 hours. All militants were either killed or apprehended. That was the epitome of India-Maldives relations in 1988.

Operation NEER was launched to meet the drinking water crisis in 2014 when the major desalination plant of Male collapsed. Indian Air Force C-17 Globe Master and IL-76 ferried lakhs of bottled water. Later, the water treatment plant was replaced by Indian Engineers. During 2020 and 2021, India also helped Maldives to combat Covid-19 by launching Operation Sanjeevani under which medical teams with 6.2 tonnes of medicines, vaccines and hospital consumables were airlifted for people of Maldives free of cost.

There have been friendly relations between Indian Armed Forces and Maldives Defence Forces since long. Indian Navy had presented a Trinkat Class Fast Attack Naval Craft in 2006. Two Dhurv Helicopters were gifted to Maldives for surveillance of maritime assets. 26 Radars stations have been established on all 26 atolls to cover the entire region, Dornier squadron of Indian Coast Guards carries out joint patrolling of International Sea Routes. Annual Joint Military exercise “Ekuverin” for Joint Counter Terrorism Operations has been periodically conducted since 2009. Maldives Military team regularly visits Andaman Nicobar Command for training and coordination. 3500 Maldivian soldiers have been trained by Indian training teams.

China had been planning to take Maldives in his fold. The important milestones were firstly signing of One Road One Belt initiative in December 2014 and also free trade agreement in 2017. China has offered interest free soft loans to Maldives infrastructure Projects. China has become pervasive in Maldives and is in the process of entrapping the tiny nation through economic coercion.

The new President Mohamed Muizzu, during his campaign, had conveyed that all military personnel from Indian Armed forces will have to return. The new president generally visits India first but Muizzu preferred to go to Turkey instead. Initially he was to proceed to Saudi Arabia but was not entertained. After being cornered, he made a declaration that he wants to remain equidistant from both China and India and work in the interest of Maldives.

PM Modi met him on 1 December 2023 to visualise a new economic bonding. They discussed ways to bolster India-Maldives relations in sectors pertaining to economic, development cooperation, tourism, military and people to people relations. President Muizze agreed to form a core group.

The president of Maldives is presently on a visit to China. The Indian PM’s recent visit to Lakshdeep has generated lot of adverse reaction in Maldives. Three junior ministers of Muizzi’s cabinet Marayam Shinua, Malsha Shareef and Mahzoom Majid tweeted derogatory comments against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. These generated a sharp reaction from the Indian people who cancelled their bookings to the island nation in thousands. The cancellation is still going on and will cause a tremendous negative impact on the economy of the Island country. The ministers have been suspended.

Maldives should realise that India is a strong military power and an economic giant, and yet, it has remained a true friend of the country. It should be very careful in the formulation of its political and economic policies.

Courtesy: https://defenceinfo.com/maldives-the-drift-away-from-india/