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India is keen on maintaining good relations with the Maldives for the larger common good of the South Asian region
Maldivian President Yameen Abdullah Gayoom’s rejection of the Supreme Court’s decision to release the jailed opposition leaders to ensure a free and fair presidential elections later this year has brought to head the country’s brewing estrangement with its traditional ally, India. India faces a dilemma: How must it deal with the situation in Maldives? This report examines India’s options in the context of China’s expanding power in the
India’s Maldives initiative of the UN kind, as reported in a section of the media, could reopen old wounds in the neighbourhood, where the political
Given the Maldives’ geostrategic location in the Indian Ocean, it is understandable that China has long-term strategic interests in it. The island nation sits atop of critical sea lanes of communication (SLOCs). Gaining a larger footprint in the Indian Ocean is now part of China’s stated strategy.
The Solih camp has maintained stoic silence as always.
With Indian Government reiterating commitment to facilitate investments in Sri Lanka and Maldives, the need for making case-studies of both
As 2012 draws to a close, the question uppermost in the minds of Maldives watchers is if the country was moving away from the strategic sphere of Indian influence, and has begun tilting towards China.
With the first-ever local council elections concluding without incidents, Maldives has completed the first phase of multi-party democracy introduced with the presidential polls of October-November 2011.
India must offer lucrative alternatives that focus on development and ensure early completion of its current projects to maintain its footprint in Mal
In his inauguration speech, President Solih referred only to India by name, and also reiterated that the Maldives was returning to the ‘India first�
The recent election victory of Muizzu indicates that Maldives may lean towards China in the coming years
The island nation has bigger problems than tourism and India-Out—it is getting crushed in an Islamist-China pincer
It likely that Malé will remain sensitive to India’s broad strategic concerns around China, but will likely push also for closer ties to Beijing.
Maldives’ political front seems to have been upturned as new political parties emerge in the face of the upcoming presidential elections
Yameen was arrested on lower court orders, which acted on a police complaint that he was seeking to influence witnesses in a larger money-laundering c
Whether Male likes it or not, India’s proximity is a fact
India’s concerns on Maldivian democracy and on the China front would remain, as standalone issues.
Maldives, or the Maldive islands in the north-central Indian Ocean, is widely regarded as a paradise by holiday-seekers from across the world. Yet, its own people are beset by severe issues of insecurity. This brief investigates the various threats to security in the island nation, primary of which is the massive income inequality. It outlines a political and religious history of the nation, and explores their influence in the current sta
It seems that the ongoing struggle between the Parliament and the President will continue, paving the way for more uncertainty and instability in Mald
PPM chief, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, has formally withdrawn support to half-brother and incumbent, Abdulla Yameen to spice up matters in Maldives
The China-Maldives FTA encourages economic cooperation between the two countries, potentially resulting in China's debt share growing to unsustainable
Mohamed Muizzu was sworn in as the seventh president of the Maldives in November 2023 after intense electoral competition with seven other candidates and a highly competitive second round. However, his administration’s five-year term will not be without challenges. Muizzu’s rise to power comes at a time when the archipelago is experiencing significant domestic and strategic challenges. As the Maldives gears up for parliamentary elections in l
China is likely to mount a major effort to protect its strategic investments and ongoing projects in Maldives
During an interaction at ORF, Maldives' delegation of senior officials reassured the audience that the Maldivian Constitution continues to restrict establishment of foreign military facilities and that Male will never compromise the security balance of the Indian Ocean.
India should be pleased with the Maldives choosing democracy over dictatorship. But it should not imagine that China's powerful influence will pale in Male anytime soon.
Indian External Affairs Minister Jaishankar’s visit to the Maldives came as the politico-electoral climate in Maldives began heating up
The run-up to the upcoming presidential polls in the Maldives will determine the shape of things to come in the future, with far-reaching implications for India, for bilateral relations between the two countries and the Indian Ocean region. This became evident at the end of a candid discussion that a high-level team of the Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) had with a section of Indian intellectuals at Observer Research Foundation (ORF),
After the arrest of Vice President Ahmed Adheeb following the bomb blast in the official speed boat of President Abdulla Yameen, the police have clamped down on Male gangs that were supposedly connected to him. It will do Maldives a lot of good if the Yameen leadership gives the police a free hand in the matter so they crack down on the gangs. It would also give democracy a boost, and with that a possible reduction in drugs availability as well.
How should India respond to Abdulla Yameen’s blatant disregard for democratic principles?
After demonstrating a sharp sense of deeper engagement with the neighbours, from the day of the swearing in, it was widely expected that Modi would exercise a more muscular foreign policy. Surprisingly, our official response to events in Male has been timid and even that has been rebuffed by the Foreign Minister of Maldives.
Since Ibrahim Solih’s election as president of Maldives in 2018, India and Maldives have been working to revive their previously strained relations. The relationship faces an enduring threat, however, in the form of the ‘India Out’ campaign spearheaded by opposition parties. Although limited to certain sections of the Maldivian polity, the campaign has fuelled anti-India public sentiments, in turn becoming consequential to India-Maldives re
The recent by-elections raise some key questions regarding the future of the Maldivian democracy.
The approach to energy security has to be an integrated one.
With this electoral victory, Muizzu is more politically stable, incentivising him to tone down his anti-India rhetoric and reconcile with Delhi while
It has become quite apparent that India is not a threat to Maldives despite the efforts made by the Opposition to prove otherwise.
The nature of bilateral political relations in the Indian Ocean region has an impact on the quality of subregional engagements.
