India's general election began on April 19, and Modi is aiming for a third re-election, looking quite confident. And at present, it seems that Modi's successful re-election is indeed not small.
On the one hand, India's economic growth rate during Modi's tenure is indeed remarkable, and Modi's "anti-colonial card" has also won Modi more support; on the other hand, although India's 26 opposition parties have formed a coalition to challenge Modi, they are not united enough after all, and internal divisions and frictions are continuous, and the opposition Congress party led by it is not as large as Modi's Indian Party, and the Congress party has not performed well in elections in recent years.
Therefore, many parties are more optimistic about Modi's victory. However, before the Indian election was over, Modi received a message from the Maldives at this time, which was afraid that Modi would not be happy.
While India's general election is in full swing, the results of the Maldives parliamentary elections have been decided. According to a report on the 22nd, on the 21st, the Maldives successfully held parliamentary elections, and preliminary statistics show that the ruling party of the Maldives won an overwhelming victory in the election, and the People's National Congress Party of Maldives President Muiz won more than 60 seats and occupied an absolute majority in the parliament.
In stark contrast, the Maldives' pro-India opposition Democratic Party suffered a crushing defeat in the election, winning just about 10 seats. It has been learned that the Democratic Party of Maldives has always insisted on being close to India and has tried many times to obstruct the foreign policy of Maldivian President Muiz.
For India, the election result in the Maldives is undoubtedly bad news.
Under the leadership of President Muiz, the Maldives has reoriented its foreign policy, taking a diplomatic line that distances itself from India and is noticeably closer to another Asian power. It is reported that before that, Muiz held a series of dialogues with India, and finally India reluctantly agreed to withdraw its troops from the Maldives. India has already withdrawn two groups of military personnel from the Maldives, and on the evening of April 12, Muiz said that the remaining Indian military personnel in the Maldives would be withdrawn by May 10.
As a result, India has to worry that the Maldives will further alienate India.
However, there is no need to wait for the dust to settle in the Maldives parliamentary elections, and India's diplomatic pivot towards the Maldives seems to be already in place. At this special moment, India also made an unexpected move.
According to reference reports, on April 19, India delivered the first batch of BrahMos missiles to the Philippines, and Modi was quite excited about this, and specially congratulated "all compatriots" in India on this matter. India's sending missiles to the Philippines is likely to be motivated by two considerations:
First, India has always been "ambitious" and also hopes to become a military power, not only to get rid of India's state of "made in all countries" in armaments, but also to become a major arms exporter. It is reported that the "BrahMos" shore-based anti-ship missile is a missile produced in India and jointly developed by Russia and India, and for India, the export of missiles to the Philippines is simply an important milestone in India's military exports, and it is no wonder that Modi is so happy.
Second, India is afraid that it is also playing a "geostrategic" calculation. Since Marcos Jr. replaced Duterte as president of the Philippines, the Philippines has once again turned to the United States, cooperating with the United States to "stir up the storm" and has a tendency to willingly act as a pawn of the United States to contain its opponents.
Of course, in the Asia-Pacific region, the United States has also tried to win over India, trying to make India its own thug and build a tight encirclement for its opponents. Although India does not want to obey the command of the United States, it does not seem to reject the Asia-Pacific strategy of the United States, and now India is "giving a big gift" to the Philippines, fearing that it will also reveal its intention to contain its Asian neighbors.
In short, regardless of the outcome of India's general election, India's next external movements are worth noting.