Maldives India Friendship Blossoming One Year After The Crisis
By
Colonel Awadhesh Kumar, Veteran Special Forces
Maldivian archipelago with around 1192 islands is spread over an EEZ of 923000 Sq Km with a population of just 400,000. Most of the islands are totally uninhabited except around 250 of them. The population comprises Sunni Muslims.
However till Mr Gayoom was in power, the island always looked towards India ……economically, socially, Culturally, militarily and politically. Gayoom after a long rein finally got defeated by Mr Mohammed Nasheed, still the old ties with India continued.
Problems started when yameen half brother of Gayoom came to power in 2013 after defeating Nasheed. This new President commenced a series of actions which started causing tear and later total fracture in the political fabric of the country.
The most recent crisis had erupted with Yameen firstly rejecting a ruling of the Supreme Court overturning the conviction of several opposition politicians, secondly even arresting two of the Supreme Court Judges and thirdly declaring a State of Emergency.
Nasheed who had been exiled in London at once appealed to India” On behalf of Maldivian people, we humbly request India to send envoy backed by its military to release Judges and political detainees….we request a physical presence”.
It was the IAF which had provided drinking water to the Capital City in December 2015 when a massive fire had gutted their Water Supply System. People of Maldive have always appreciated India’s friendly help in all spheres of their daily lives including timely intervention in times of crises.
When a deadly tsunami had struck the islands of Maldive on 26 December 2004 then it was the Indian Navy which had come to their rescue, despite the fact that India itself including SriLanka had been hit hard by the same tsunami. Of Course there is no need to recount the details of the November 1988 Coup crisis wherein the Indian Airborne Forces had saved the day.
As Soon as the present crisis erupted, China was the first country to not only issue statements but in a veiled manner actually tried to issue a warning to India against any type of intervention.
It seems that the Chinese think that Nehru is still the PM of this country. They also have not learnt any lessons from the Doklam Affair. Maldive is totally within our Zone of vital interest and therefore India simply cannot ignore the ongoing there no matter what the World thinks.
Fortunately India is also in a position to intervene there AT WILL and no power on this earth whosoever has the wherewithal to stop India from doing so. This fact is known to all the powers including China.
So lets see what was the root cause of the crisis. This archipelago apart from being an unique tourist paradise has a vast Exclusive Economic Zone with vast futuristic potentials. Also the most important thing is that Maldives is astride most critical shipping trade route for China, Japan, ASEAN countries, both the Americas and even India.
The criticality is the Petroleum supply, that is nearly 90% of Chinese and Japanese oil pass through this route. No wonder China is most interested in making Maldives its pawn and control all its affairs.
Though it is like living in a fools world. China has no naval or air assets to even challenge Indian Coastguard in these waters. The only saving grace for China is that Maldives has presently a dictator as the President who has close ties with Beijing.
Under this mad dictator, things started with Maldives first opting out of Commonwealth in 2015. Then in 2016 it severed a 40 years old diplomatic relations with Iran a Shia state.
Yameen then went on to amend the constitution to allow foreigners to buy land, rather than just lease plots up to a maximum of 99 years.
This ownership of land was allowed to foreign nationals who were willing to invest at least $1 billion. Now that was an invitation to purchase atolls islands by interested entities.
No wonder Maldives became so highly radicalized. With respect to its population a very large percentage of Maldivians began fighting in Syria. Even our National Security Advisor must have had begun guessing the amount of interest being shown and planned by Pakistan’s ISI to fish in these troubled waters.
From here anti-India terror can easily be exported to Minicoy Islands (once part of Sultanate of Maldives) and then to Lakshadweep and finally to mainland …Kerala and Karnataka. India therefore has to be concerned and take actions to defend itself …..at all times.
Finally Yameen said yes to joining the so called ‘Maritime Silk Road’ of China.Then last November he ensured passing of FTA with China in the Parliament despite solid opposition.
The opposition was fully aware that the Chinese debt over Maldives already is around 70 % of all external debts and therefore the FTA is going to economically strangle the country. In a way India is responsible for this Chinese noose.
As usual, in February 2012, the gutless Indian Government of the day under Manmohan Singh had failed to take suitable action in our National Interest. A big dispute had arisen in the Maldivian election results and a coup took place to overthrow the President Nasheed ‘s Govt.
The Indian government only sent the Foreign Secretary to Maldives with neither a rebuke nor any vehement protest backed by a Naval demonstration. The dhoti shivering ensured that the island went under the firm influence of China and may be Saudi Arabia. Nasheed is still in exile.
Just like Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh, Maldives is another country where China is directly trying to compete with India. Geographically it succeed in Tibet to oust India (we gave up without any bye also) but politically, morally and religiously the War is still simmering. In Bangladesh India has retrieved the situation and it seems to be touch and go case still in Nepal.
In Bhutan Chinese were given a knockout punch at Doklam without firing a singe shot. Here in Maldives the best part is that the Chinese have no land borders and their fighting Navy if it ever reaches over here can only see the Sea.
During the crisis India had quietly moved its naval assets to patrol their battle stations and as per news reports even the airborne forces were on full alert to re enact 1988 in case required.We wisely refrained from joining the Chinese in any verbal dual.
The best course of action was to make the Maldivians themselves set things in order. The November elections last year were conducted in a free and fair manner.
The dictator was thrown out by the people and in this India baced k Nasheed, without using the military option. Though it would not have been wrong for New Delhi to resort to a military option.
As per C Raja Mohan a noted analyst the reality was a simultaneous demand for and resentment against Indian interference. This was quite true. However this is the burden of all major powers, especially in their own regions and this country as such is directly linked to our own security.
Therefore we need not even look at those arm chair specialists who term any Intervention by India as”monumentally stupid”. This cannot be equated with American interventions in various parts of the world. For India, Maldives is not a distant land, we just cannot afford such situations within SARCC.
In 1988 the World had admired our initiative and it was time once again for the United Nations to request India to take the lead in holding free and fair elections on the island. Whereas China has exhausted its viable options India had many including the last Brahamastra. …..military intervention. Mohammad Nasheed, former president of the Maldives had already said that”It is essential that India leads the international community in forcing President Yameen to comply with last week’s Supreme Court order.
This will pave the way for genuinely inclusive, free and fair elections with full international monitoring. If the Maldivian people so wish, they will then be afforded the chance to throw out this corrupt and criminal regime that is selling the country out from under their feet.”
How deeply sensitive the Maldivians are to our concerns may be made out from this little episode. In 2006 the Maldivian Chief of Defence Force Major General Mohammed Zahir had come on an official visit to India.
They were very happy to be taking the delivery of an re furbished TRINKAT Class Off Shore Patrol Vessel from the Indian Navy. As conveyed by the CDF, their Govt was requesting the presence of the Indian Raksha Mantri and the Naval Chief for the Commissioning ceremony at Male.
Our then Rajya Raksha Mantri was in full agreement.Later in the office of the CNS, among other things the CDF was asked regarding the name Maldivian Coast Guard was planning for their new Flag Ship.
Out came the name GHAZEE. Forget the CNS and the other Naval officers, even I a pongo was totally taken aback. However the CDF genuinely seemed to be surprised by our reactions. He enquired and when told that the name belonged to the Pakistani submarine sunk in 1971, he at once offered to have the name changed.
Though when he told us that the name selected was of a Maldivian legend who had fought against Arabian and European pirates, CNS said that Indian Navy had no objections whatsoever against the selected name. Later on their ship nevertheless was commissioned as CGS HURAVEE.
