Military fans often like to use a certain "iron" to describe a country with particularly good relations with China, such as Pakistan is often called "Pakistan Railway", and Serbia is called "European Iron" by everyone. Recently, it seems that another Chinese "old iron" has begun to appear, this country is located in the Maldives in South Asia, perhaps the country can be called "Ma Tie" or "Ma Dai Tie".
In December 1988, India directly dispatched paratroopers to take control of Malé, the capital of the Maldives, in a very short period of time, and installed a pro-India president in the country. Since then, India has been stationed in the Maldives for a long time and has taken the opportunity to greatly expand India's military influence in the country. However, India's arbitrariness caused dissatisfaction among the righteous people in the Maldives, and finally in September last year, the former mayor of the Maldives, Muiz, with the support of the Maldivian people, defeated the pro-Indian candidate and officially became the president of the Maldives.
In order to get rid of India's influence on the Maldives and develop the process of independence and self-determination of the Maldives, President Muiz has chosen to carry out in-depth cooperation with China and abandoned the pro-India approach of the Maldives in the past. In order to support the development of the Maldives, the mainland also signed an agreement with the Maldives on military assistance free of charge. However, what is unexpected is that India, after being forcefully countered by its wanton interference in its neighbors, has not reflected on its own wrongdoing, but still hates the Maldives and hates President Moiz, who is supported by the Maldivian people. Previously, India also relied on the pro-Indian opposition "Maldives Democratic Party" (MDP) to stir up trouble in the Maldives, because the group is still the majority of the Maldives parliament, so President Muiz's governance will be constrained by the party, and the Maldives' path to independence is still interfered with by India.
What is even more worrying is that the MDP is also trying to carry out the so-called "impeachment" of President Moiz at the instigation of India, in a vain attempt to overthrow President Moiz's government and return the Maldives to India's "embrace". It is no exaggeration to say that although Mouiz is the president of the Maldives, his previous presidency was not very secure.
Fortunately, the eyes of the Maldivian people are bright, and everyone has a scale in their hearts about who is really good for the Maldives. In the recent parliamentary elections in the Maldives, President Muiz's party won a resounding victory, while the so-called "Democratic Party of Maldives" supported by India suffered a resounding defeat, and President Muiz won as many as 68 seats in the parliament! This means that from now on, President Muiz will inevitably receive the support of the parliament if he wants to take any initiative.
Now, the Maldives, an island country in the Indian Ocean that India has regarded as almost its "own backyard" for decades, has been replaced by a "pro-China faction" in India's eyes, from the president to the parliament, which will undoubtedly make India very uncomfortable.
However, the current situation is entirely of India's own making. In order to gain hegemony in South Asia, India has turned the Indian Ocean into the so-called "Indian Ocean" and has been relying on its relatively strong strength and size to run rampant and hegemonic in South Asia all year round. Since the founding of the country, India has successively annexed the sovereign state of Sikkim, interfered in Bhutan's diplomacy, made it impossible to establish diplomatic relations with the "P5", sent 70,000 troops to intervene in the Sri Lankan civil war, sent troops to the Maldives, and fought three large-scale Indo-Pakistani wars with Pakistan. It can be seen that India is not only the largest country in South Asia, but also the most belligerent country in South Asia.
India's twin aircraft carrier formation
Under such circumstances, South Asian countries, including the Maldives, are naturally unwilling to follow in the footsteps of Sikkim and stay away from India, and countering India is inevitable. China has always loved peace, has never taken the initiative to provoke any war, and is willing to sincerely help other countries develop their economies, so it is undoubtedly natural that China and the Maldives can get closer and closer.