What is the issue?
Various actions of Maldivian administration has put Maldives on a collision course with India.
What are the reasons behind worsening ties?
- There has been a series of setbacks in India-Maldives ties, starting from March 2015.
- Recently, India criticised the Maldives government for imprisonment of former president and Chief justice for an alleged plot to unseat the then President.
- India has also showed discontent over the conduct of polls, treatment of the judiciary and, and declaration of a state of emergency.
- Even the presidential election which India has been calling for is a point of contention.
- Indian administration cancelled a visit to Maldives in a show of disapproval of actions of Maldivian administration.
- The strain is now evident in strategic relations and people to people engagement which had been the strongest in the past.
- Maldives is bolstered by a newly strengthened relationship with china and showed no inclination to heed India’s advice.
What are the impacts of the worsening ties?
- The Maldives has conveyed to India that it will not extend the lease of Indian helicopters or the visas of personnel manning them.
- The worsening signals between the two nations has marked downturn in defence cooperation between the two countries, which normally coordinate maritime and EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) patrols together.
- Meanwhile, hundreds of Indians offered employment in the Maldives at resorts, hospitals and colleges have been denied work visas for the past few months.
What measures needs to be taken?
- Maldivian government must reconsider its policies and revive its co-operation with India.
- India too must pause to consider why relations have soured so badly.
- India’s vocal protests on democratic rights in the Maldives have been at variance with the past policy of taking a more muted line in public while encouraging democracy in official conversations.
- India’s interventions in the island nation always aimed at strengthening the government there, with any misgivings conveyed only through quiet diplomacy.
Source: The Hindu
