A welcome camaraderie between Malé and New Delhi

Rajlakshmi Barman

(rajlakshmibarman24@gmail.com)

The institutionalisation of engagement with the littoral and island nations, particularly the Maldives in the western Indian Ocean posits and reinforces India's "Neighbourhood First Policy" amid the changing waves and wavering diplomatic compasses in this eponymous ocean that surrounds our country from all the three sides. Eponymous as it may be, it has been a norm and culture throughout history that several players apart from India have been trading, visiting, and exploring the depths of traditions, spices, empires, and precious minerals in the Indian Ocean over several centuries now. There was no concept of hegemony on waters until the advent of the Europeans which heralded the age of colonialism and exploitation. The need for naval supremacy might be have highlighted as early as 400 BC by an Athenian politician, Themistocles but it was the Europeans who decisively proved the gravity of naval prowess in controlling far-flung regions of the world, as rightly put together by American historian, Alfred T Mahan in 1890 in his "In The Influence of Sea Power upon History". He had concluded that supremacy at sea was essential for a nation's political and commercial success and it was considered to be one of the prime reasons for Britain's victory against many of its able contenders/neighbours.

Approximately, 95 per cent of India's trade by volume (70 per cent in terms of value) is moved by sea and in such a backdrop when China seemingly closes in on India with its "String of Pearls" to choke on its very lifeline from all the sides, untangling the precious pearls from its various intertwined strings becomes a necessity to protect India's sovereignty, integrity, and friendly relations with other countries. As a result, Maldives becomes an imperative player and stakeholder to protect and uphold the spirit of free, open, and fair competition and participation in the Indian Ocean, as rightly envisaged in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea adopted in 1982 because its sea lines of communication are critical for seamless maritime trade flow between the Gulf of Aden and Gulf of Hormuz in West Asia and the Strait of Malacca in Southeast Asia.

A tiny island nation that is akin to a dot on the world map, Maldives has a population of about 500,000 people who are dependent on imports of essential commodities from its neighbours. Circa 2005 ushered in the era of democracy in this small island nation and ever since pro-China and pro-India chess pieces with their cautionary moves have been laid out. The Maldives has been caught in the active and passive geopolitical muddle between the two Asian giants competing for a diplomatic edge through infrastructure projects, lines of credit and million-dollar investments in this tiny country. The visit of the current Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to New Delhi ever since India got its first tribal and second woman President paints a silver lining on the canvas reflecting the relationship between the two nations yet it is only a matter of sapience to not view this silver lining without the presence of the ominously grey clouds. Mr Solih's "India First" campaign spearheaded by his party, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) delivered the much-needed impetus between Male and New Delhi's camaraderie in terms of capacity building, cyber security, housing, disaster management and infrastructure development in the Maldives in the light of the current agreements signed. The two nations also signed a bilateral cyber security agreement where both sides asserted their bilateral will to strengthen ties to take on "transnational crimes and terrorism" in the Indian Ocean region to increase maritime interoperability that underscores shared security objectives along with the development of the Greater Male Connectivity Project (GMCP) that would include a 6.74-km bridge and the causeway linking capital Male with the neighbouring islands. Mr Solih referred to India as the "highest priority" of the Maldives and said, "Maldives-India relation, goes beyond diplomacy." As our Prime Minister has already reiterated the Indian insight and perception of the country's close connection with the Maldives saying that the India-Maldives partnership was not only working in the interest of citizens of both countries, but it was also becoming a source of peace and stability for the entire region. He stressed the close ties and strategic liaison between the nations in its political past, thereby acting as the first responders in any emergencies or crisis in the Maldives and it aptly grasps the Prime Minister's foresighted vision of Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) initiative. The island nation was also one of the first beneficiaries of India's Vaccine Maitri initiative as a part of Covid-19 assistance and vaccine delivery by India among all its neighbouring countries. This indeed illustrates that India is one of Maldives' old and all-weather friends.

However, after inking six agreements to broaden and diversify the areas of collaboration during his New Delhi visit, the Maldivian President still must face opposition on the domestic front from his political rival and former Maldivian president Abdulla Yameen in the form of "India Out" campaign. The Yoga Day attacks and Mr Yameen's seemingly intimate ties with China might be two exclusively independent events but it is to be noted that the Chinese relationship with the Maldives must not be used as a bargaining chip against India. The strained relations between the two friends could see a possible rise again in the future if this misnomer narrative popularized by certain sections of the population that the MDP had "sold out" the Maldives to India gained further momentum in Maldivian domestic politics.

Despite the trend of international and domestic faucets dumping in their debris of past, present and future in the partnership between two countries that gushes out the progress made over years, it is worth noting that India shares multiple international platforms with Maldives like Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Colombo Security Conclave and One Sun, One World, One Grid (OSOWOG) initiative where strategic dialogues, economic, political, environmental, energy security and diplomatic engagement with each other require to be the steadfast and consistent norm for prioritizing the region's overall peace and prosperity as the Indian Ocean is a beacon of possibilities. If our true potentials need to be realized, coherent conflation in such areas and not conflagration with the Maldives and other island nations should be our go-to raison d'être to weather the complex conundrums of geopolitics and climate change in the Indian Ocean.