Newly elected Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu moved quickly to implement his campaign promise to remove India’s military presence in his country by formally asking New Delhi to withdraw its military personnel from the island nation in the Indian Ocean.
His government also said it was reviewing more than 100 agreements it has signed with India, including several in the area of defense and security.
Analysts say this is a setback for India’s efforts to counter China’s influence on the small island strategically located to its south, as Muizzu, who is considered a pro-China leader, is likely to lean towards Beijing.
New Delhi’s relations with Male, the capital of the Maldives, developed significantly during the previous government led by former president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, which implemented an “India First” policy. Muizzu actually campaigned with the theme “India Out”, saying that India’s military presence in the country endangered the sovereignty of the Maldives.
Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu after his inauguration ceremony in Male on November 17 2023. (Photo: AFP)
The 77 military personnel Muizzu wants India to take back are mostly pilots, crew and technicians who operated two helicopters and a plane used to assist the island nation in conducting maritime surveillance, search and rescue operations and medical evacuations.
However, during the election campaign in the Maldives, they were considered foreign fighting forces.
“From the way the issue was portrayed during the elections, it looks like there is a strong Indian military presence in the country. This can affect public sentiment,” said Azim, Zahir, a researcher at the University of Western Australia and analyst on the Maldives.
“But that’s not actually the case,” he said. “After they came to power, they released the numbers and it was only about 77 personnel.”
In the last decade there has been a geopolitical competition between India and China to gain a strategic presence in the Maldives, similar to what has happened in other South Asian countries such as Sri Lanka. The island nations lie on a vital sea route through which most of the oil from Middle Eastern countries travels to South Asia.
China established a significant presence in the Maldives from 2013 to 2018, as the country moved closer to Beijing and joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Among China’s biggest projects is a $200 million four-lane bridge connecting Male with international airports located on different islands.
New Delhi’s influence expanded in the past five years under the pro-India Solih government, which lost elections last September. The election is being billed as a virtual referendum on which of the two Asian countries has the greatest influence in the Maldives.
But Muizzu, in his inaugural speech said that he “draws a very clear line between independence and sovereignty.” (uh/ab)