Text/Sister Xiong
According to Xinhua News Agency, on January 11, China and the Maldives issued a joint communiqué, upgrading their relations to a "comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership", and agreed to strengthen cooperation in international multilateral affairs, deepen political mutual trust, expand friendly exchanges at all levels, promote economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, strengthen people-to-people exchanges and people's livelihood cooperation, deepen cooperation in the field of ecology and environment, and firmly support each other in safeguarding core interests.
(Visit of the President of Maldives to China)
The Maldives is an island nation in the Indian Ocean, across the sea from India, and is widely considered India's traditional sphere of influence. This time, however, the new president, Moizou, broke with tradition and made his first foreign state visit to China the destination of his first state visit since taking office, becoming the first Maldivian president to visit China instead of neighboring India.
This has made Indians extremely nervous, especially after Moizou demanded that India withdraw its troops and three senior Maldivian government officials criticized Modi on social media, and President Muizou's visit to China was criticized by the Indian media. Some people say that he has "abandoned India and turned to China, beyond his means," while others say with concern that this may signal that the "back garden" of the Indian Ocean will no longer belong to India.
Even Ken Nagao, an expert at the Hudson Institute, a US think tank, took great pains to analyze that because the Maldives is located in a very important geographical and strategic position and guards the sea lines of communication in the Indian Ocean, the Maldives is becoming a target for China's wooing. If China can succeed in having a military base in the Maldives and even become a new "security provider" in the region, India will completely lose its influence in the region, and the entire "back garden" will completely change.
(The Maldives is very close to India)
Obviously, however, these Indian media and so-called experts are still using the Cold War mentality of "small circles" of gangs to view the new developments in the world today. They interpreted Muizu's move to demand the withdrawal of Indian troops after taking office as "extending an olive branch to China and showing goodwill to China," and interpreted China's normal exchanges with the Maldives as a "turn" for the Maldives.
They never realized that the Maldives was a sovereign country, that they had the right to defend their independence and sovereignty, and that they had the right to choose "Maldives first" over "India first" or "China first". After taking office, Muizu also made it clear that he is not "pro-China" as the Indian media said, that the Maldives will not be "anti" or "pro-Maldives" any country, and that "the Maldives pursues a 'pro-Maldives' policy."
(Indian troops in the Maldives)
This is also an important reason why China has become closer to the Maldives in recent years, but India is gradually losing the support of the Maldives people, which China has always regarded as an equal partner and respects the sovereignty of the Maldives. However, India is holding the so-called "boss" at every turn, interfering in the internal affairs of the Maldives at every turn, stationing troops in the Maldives, and even demanding that the Maldives give India far more than normal treatment.
For example, as early as December 2017, the Maldives signed the China-Malaysia Free Trade Agreement with China, joining China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative, allowing a large number of Chinese companies to invest in Malaysia. At that time, the Indian media also smeared and spread rumors about this matter in every possible way. However, China's investment in the Maldives is legal and compliant, and it is beneficial to the Maldivian people. With China's help, the Maldives has built roads, railways and bridges connecting the country's islands, which not only make it easier for people to travel, but also inject more vitality into tourism, the main source of the Maldives' economy, so that Malé, the capital of the Maldives, finally has a four-lane bridge to the international airport on another island.
(China-Malaysia Friendship Bridge)
India's approach is quite different. After "pro-Indian" President Saleh took office, India has provided more than $2 billion in loans and funding to the Maldives in recent years in an attempt to counter Chinese investment. But they chose to develop and maintain a port for the Maldives Coast Guard, installed a coastal radar system consisting of 10 radar stations in the Maldives, etc. Many Maldivian people have complained that these investments have not benefited the people, but have allowed India to "indirectly" deploy troops to the Maldives, undermining the country's sovereignty. This is one of the important reasons why Muizu was able to defeat Saleh in the 2023 general election.
(Maldivian people demand that India withdraw its troops)
Now, China and the Maldives have upgraded their bilateral relations, which is one of Modi's biggest concerns. Although we have repeatedly stressed that "New Delhi should keep a more open mind, that cooperation between China and South Asian countries is not a zero-sum game", and that "China respects the friendly and cooperative relations between the Maldives and India", we have also shown with concrete actions that China has never demanded that the Maldives have to choose between China and India because of the discord between China and India. But in the eyes of many Indians, the Maldives' acceptance of Chinese investment is a betrayal of India, so India must use all means, whether it is coercion or inducement, to pull the Maldives back into its camp.
(Data map: Modi)
But what they don't understand is that it is precisely because they have always regarded the Maldives as a "vassal" and that the Maldives is not qualified to talk about equality, independence, sovereignty and development, that the Maldives has drifted apart from India. Modi fears that the Maldives is moving closer to China and that there is a fire in the backyard, but in fact, it is they themselves who have pushed the Maldives away from India.