Maldives still needs India’s partnership, despite shifting ‘dynamics’ in Delhi-Malé ties, troop withdrawal

There is much attention on the changing ‘dynamics’ in India-Maldives ties, but Maldivian leader Mohamed Muizzu has said the island nation still needs Delhi’s partnership

India’s ties with the Maldives have come under strain after pro-China Muizzu’s election win last year, in which he pledged to end his country’s ‘India First’ policy

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Maldives’ President Mohamed Muizzu leaves his inauguration ceremony in Male on November 17, 2023. India’s ties with the Maldives have come under strain after pro-China President Mohamed Muizzu’s election win last year, in which he pledged to end his country’s “India First” policy. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:30pm, 7 Feb 2024

Malé is not expected to completely reject security help from New Delhi, which is in turn keen to remain a traditional developmental partner with the island nation, even as both sides hammer out details of an Indian troop withdrawal from Maldivian territory.

India’s ties with the Maldives have come under strain after pro-China President Mohamed Muizzu’s election win last year, in which he pledged to end his country’s “India First” policy.

After a five-day visit to China last month on his first state trip since taking office in November, Muizzu – who won the election after campaigning on an “India Out” platform – called for the withdrawal of Indian troops by March 15.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu attend a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Photo: Reuters

However, the Maldivian foreign ministry last Saturday said India will remove its troops by May, with civilians to replace the roughly 80 soldiers stationed in the Indian Ocean archipelago.

The first group of Indian troops will leave by March 10 and the rest by May 10, the Maldivian capital said, citing an agreement at a high-level meeting in the Indian capital last Friday.

Noting that the issue for Malé “is the presence of any foreign military in the Maldives, not only India’s”, Nilanthi Samaranayake, visiting academic at the South Asia programmes at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) think tank, said the current discussion about Maldives tilting to China suggests that there are only two options for Male.

“But Muizzu’s foreign policy appears to be aimed more fundamentally at expanding Maldives’ base of partners,” she said, adding that these include deeper connections to the Middle East such as through the president’s visit to Turkey in November.