Worsening Indo-Maldives Ties   

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