New Delhi (TIP) – The rapid decline in ties between India and the Maldives is the result of an Islamic conservative faction coming to power in the Indian Ocean Island, says a former top Indian diplomat. “Democracy in Maldives is relatively young, in their teens, and it is a question of lack of understanding of the situation as well as the realities of bilateral relations between the two countries, which has triggered this crisis, said Dnyaneshwar Manohar Mulay, a former Indian High Commissioner to Maldives. Just a month after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with the newly elected Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu, relations between the two former allies have gone into a tailspin. The immediate provocation came from tweets by three Maldivian ministers, attacking the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, for promoting the Lakshadweep islands during his recent sojourn there at the perceived cost to the Maldives and for India’s close ties with Israel.
The ministers also made derogatory remarks about Indians. The tweets have been deleted, the Ministers suspended, and the Maldivian government has distanced itself from them, but the damage has been done.
According to former High Commissioner Mulay, “whenever such developments happen, it is the result of some people, who have been polluting the minds of the island population there and China has played a significant role in doing this. It has been providing all the assistance to the conservative elements in the Maldives and the current regime in Maldives is pro-development but also very conservative.”
He added: “There is an Islamic tilt to their policies and that is why the first visit of President Muizzu was to Turkey and it is unfortunate that the second visit was to China. It is an indication of what the new regime prefers.” Mulay pointed out that President Muizzu is a follower of former Maldives President, Abdullah Yameen, a known anti-India hardliner, who was President between 2013 – 2018. Yameen was sentenced to five years in jail and fined USD 5 million in 2019 for embezzling USD 1 million in state funds.
As President of the Maldives, Yameen had laid the foundation for the Chinese debt trap in 2015 and led the `India Out’ campaign, currently being pursued by President Muizzu, who wants India’s 70 soldiers in the island nations out. These personnel operate India-sponsored radars and surveillance aircraft. Source: HT