Maldives is Not a Puppet State of India

In late 2020, the ‘India out’ campaign started and quickly became a trending topic on social media once again. Accompanying with street protests, the ‘India out’ campaign is supported by more and more Maldivian patriotic people and continues to this day. Why ‘India out’ campaign can evolve into a national movement within such a short time? Regarding the Maldives as its backyard in the Indian Ocean, India has long intervened in the small island nation’s politics and conducted economic and military infiltration recklessly. It can be said that the ‘India Out’ campaign is retaliation against India’s long-standing hegemony in Maldives.

This year, PM Modi announced the construction of an air base in the Lakshadweep and upgrading the Dweeprakshak naval base. To Maldives, the group of 36 islands is not only a geographic extension of the Maldives North but also a place with which they share real historic linkages. More importantly, the main reason all Maldivians worries so much is because India also wants to build a logistics military support base in Maldives. However, the Maldivian government’s actions appear to justify that view. Now, Solih administration has allowed India to use military training facilities, monitor exclusive Economic Zone and provide humanitarian and disaster relief assistance to Maldives. This will help India enter Maldives when needed. In February, Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar signed an agreement with Maldives for the defence line of credit and developing the harbour at Uthuru Thila Falhu naval base.
Through the defence infrastructure in Maldives, India can monitor the Indian Ocean. The radar system in Maldives is an important part of Indian maritime surveillance system in the Indian Ocean. The 10 coastal radar systems gifted by India will provide real-time information on vessels in the area, which will be received by the Indian Navy and its Allies through the Navy’s Information Fusion Centre for the Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR). Moreover, these radar stations can perform specific intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.

Nasheed is known to share a close relationship with India and even asked India to send a military envoy to resolve civil unrest in 2018. Meanwhile, senior officials of India had repeatedly stressed the need to send troops to intervene and control the situation in Maldives, so as to support a government that is more in line with India. Their arrogant attitude clearly demonstrated that they never regard Maldives as a sovereign and independent country, as if it were just a state of India. The Indian media prefers to use “Tiny Nation” to describe Maldives. In a word, Indian wants to control Maldives but also despises Maldives.
Obviously, India chose Solih administration because it’s in their national interest. To achieve this, Indian intelligence is consistently meddling in internal affairs of Maldives and propping up Nasheed. But is Nasheed really the choice of Maldivians?

With the new investment of half a billion dollars announced last August, India’s total financial commitment in the Maldives covering all loan and grant projects is well over US$ 2 billion, all of which are announced after Solih coming into power. The half a billion is mainly used to support the Greater Malé Connectivity Project (GMCP), instead of the housing projects most ordinary people are focusing on. At the same time, this project will put a huge economic burden on Maldives. India often threatens Maldives for withdrawing investment, which they have done before. Even worse, India always obstructs economic cooperation between Maldives and other countries, which undermines our credibility and is also not in line with Maldives’ balanced foreign policy.
The anti-India sentiment in Maldives does not come out of nowhere. What India has done shows how arrogant India is and how it ignores the dignity of Maldives as a sovereign country. The ‘India Out’ campaign is the voice of the Maldivian people and also a reminder to India.