Why Is Maldives Insulting and Boycotting India?
The reason behind Maldives insulting and boycotting India has less to do with PM Modi’s Lakshadweep trip and more with China-Maldives relationship & Maldives President Muizzu.
"We will not be bullied", "Indian Ocean does not belong to any 1 country", and ‘Maldives will not depend on 1 country anymore’, these are some of the messages Maldives is conveying to India through its latest actions and announcements. It’s clear that once our friend Maldives, has now turned completely against India.
But why? What happened that led to this diplomatic tension? Let's find out!
As you know from our previous video, that soon after Maldives’ senior politicians made derogatory comments on PM Modi’s Lakshadweep’s picture, hashtags like #BoycottMaldives, #ExploreIndianIslands & #VisitLakshadweep started trending on social media. While the Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO) publicly apologized for the derogatory remarks and posts for their politicians, the President of Maldives Mohamed Muizzu did not issue any official statement or apology. President Muizzu was elected last November on an "India Out" campaign promising to remove Indian military personnel stationed in the Maldives. Relations between India and the Maldives have started getting strained since then. Instead of apologizing to India, President Muizzu traveled to China. In his speech, President Muizzu, who is anti-India & pro-China said “We are a free and independent nation. So this territorial integrity is something China respects firmly." This signaled the Maldives government's effort to break ties with India's influence.
According to the reports, Maldives has started finding a replacement for everything that it depends on India for and China being that replacement is being hinted in the President Muizzu speech. A breakdown in relations will affect Maldives more since many of its citizens travel to India for health care and education. In his speech, President Muizzu announced that government-sponsored universal health care for Maldivians provided in hospitals in India and Sri Lanka will now be expanded to Thailand and the United Arab Emirates. He also said “When this is fully established, Maldivians will be served much better from countries with much better quality than the countries we go to now.” In 2023, India alone was responsible for 11% of Maldives total tourism. Maldives that depends heavily on tourism for its economic survival has found a solution to ‘low tourism from India’ in China too. During his trip to China, President Muizzi signed a 20 point agreement with the Chinese government. These 20 points included official assurance from China of sending tourists and providing grants to Maldives. In return, Maldives has promised China that Maldives will become a part of China’s Belt & Road initiative. China’s Belt & Road initiative was started in 2013. The goal of this initiative is to join East Asian & European countries through physical infrastructure like roads & bridges to maximize imports & exports and reduce the transit time. China’s import & export routes from Gulf countries and some European countries pass through Maldives. Because India is not a part of the belt and road initiative, China knew that if Maldives continued to remain friendly with India, India could stop China’s Gulf import-export routes anytime in the future. Therefore, being friendly and supporting Maldives is actually beneficial for China and hence, it has lured Maldives into being a part of the Belt & Road initiative. In his speech, President Muizzu said “China sent the largest number of tourists to the Maldives before the COVID-19 pandemic and steps would be taken to double that number by them.”
Therefore, after returning from China, President Muizzu asked India to withdraw all military troops from Maldives’s tourist islands by 15th March 2024 so that the Belt & Road trade can continue smoothly because India is not a part of the initiative. These military troops consisting of 88 military personnel, vessels and aircrafts were deployed as help by India to provide surveillance, rescue, humanitarian aid, and medical evacuations for the residents of the remote islands of Maldives and train Maldives army after Maldives requested it. As far as trade is concerned, Maldives also announced that it will not import rice, sugar, wheat flour, vegetables, and medicines etc. from India. President Muizzu announced that Maldives has reached an agreement with Turkey for the import of rice, sugar and wheat flour and Medicines will be imported directly from manufacturers in Europe and the United States. In the most recent update, President Muizzu has signed a deal with Turkey to buy drones worth $37 millions to patrol its exclusive economic zone waters. So far, India & Maldives jointly patrolled this region in the Indian Ocean. India has gifted radar stations and surveillance aircraft including the Dornier plane and two Dhruv helicopters to Maldives in the last decade for this very purpose but it seems Maldives have forgotten this.
