On January 8, President Muiz of the Maldives and his wife arrived in China with a high-level delegation for a state visit. He also delivered a speech in which he emphasized that China is an important ally and indispensable partner of the Maldives and wants to elevate bilateral relations to new heights. This is Muiz's first state visit to a foreign country since taking office, and he also became the first president of the country to visit China not first.
And a series of words and deeds during the election campaign and after taking office are enough to prove that he is not dealing with India. During his election campaign, he repeatedly stressed "de-Indianization" and advocated "Maldives first". The day after he officially became president, he formally demanded that India withdraw its troops. Recently, there has been a new diplomatic dispute, so the Indian media has paid special attention to Muiz's visit to China, and the Indian mainstream media have reported with the headline "Muiz calls China an important ally", and the sour smell overflowed the screen.
At the time of Moiz's visit to China, India and the Maldives had another falling out. On January 4, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised India's Lakshadweep Islands, with some Maldivians arguing that Modi's move was aimed at competing for tourists. Subsequently, three deputy ministers of the Maldives Ministry of Youth Rights, Information and the Arts issued a sermon sarcastically calling him an "Israeli puppet", a "clown" and a "terrorist", and even compared India to "cow dung". It caused a huge controversy in India, and the three deputy ministers were suspended because of this. The Indian media then dubbed the dispute a "battle over the islands" and declared India a "big victory". In fact, the remarks of these three deputy ministers are not only because of the so-called "competition for tourists", but more because the Maldives is a Muslim country, and India is firmly on Israel's side in this round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which has aroused the dissatisfaction of many Arab countries and Muslim countries. However, this is only a minor diplomatic dispute, and India's biggest concern is the proximity of the Maldives and China.
In November, the Wall Street Journal revealed that the Maldives had received a large number of Chinese loans to finance high-rise buildings, bridges and roads on an artificial island. This was followed by the announcement of the launch of Connect Greater Malé, which will provide a $400 million credit line and $100 million in grants to connect several islands. India is learning from China, after China helped the Maldives build a sea-crossing bridge connecting the capital Malé to the international airport, known as the "China-Malaysia Friendship Bridge", the entire project cost $200 million, and China provided China with $116 million in funding and $72 million in loans. Seeing China's expanding influence in the Maldives, India has also begun to invest in additional projects and aid projects. When many people see this kind of news, their first reaction is that small countries are jumping left and right, and betting on both sides is making a lot of money, thinking that they have taken a fancy to China's money bags.
To be honest, almost every country that cooperates with other countries must put their own interests first, everyone has their own needs, and it is impossible to do nothing and wait for pie to fall from the sky. Many people only see the money spent on China's aid construction, but they do not see the resource replacement or political value. Despite its small size and small population, the Maldives has 1,200 islands scattered along strategically important shipping routes in the Indian Ocean, through which half of India's foreign trade and 80 percent of its energy imports pass through sea lanes near the Maldives, and at least 60 percent of China's crude oil imports from the Middle East and Africa. The Maldives is one of the first countries to respond to the "Memorandum of Understanding on the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road" and is also one of the founding members of the AIIB, which also shows that the Maldives has a long-term strategic vision and is not willing to be controlled by India. India, on the other hand, fears that China will "invade its backyard" and weaken India's influence in the Indian Ocean, and that strategic shipping lanes will be choked by China. India cannot influence China's security in the Maldives, but China can influence India's security in the Maldives. Now the pendulum of the Maldives is swinging back to China's side, so that's why Muiz visited China and India is facing a great enemy.