Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu is acting against India under pressure from those who funded him in the elections, top government sources have told CNN-News18, adding that New Delhi is hopeful of the relationship coming back on track.
Sources said Muizzu is under tremendous pressure from local businesses and individual business houses after anti-India statements from their ministers, given that tourism is the mainstay of their economy.
The second visible pressure is his party losing the Mayor’s seat which has been won by pro-India Maldives Democratic Party from Male. Muizzu was earlier the Mayor on this seat before he resigned to contest the presidential elections.
Muizzu seems to be caught between the devil and the deep blue sea for now. On one hand, a few individuals who control tourism and businesses in Maldives are upset with the moves of the Muizzu government and seeing it as an attack on their businesses.
On the other hand, people who funded him during elections are pushing him against India. His first traditional visit to India also did not happen because of this pressure.
Sources said Muizzu’s statement on diversifying imports would not impact India much but would be problematic for Maldives and their people.
On Muizzu’s growing closeness with China, the sources said everyone was aware of what Beijing had done in Sri Lanka with regards to the Hambantota port. The Sri Lankan government handed the port to Chinese companies on a 99-year lease in 2017. However, unable to repay the Chinese loans used to build it, Colombo was forced to give up control of the port.
Similarly, China’s role in the Kathmandu airport and the subsequent controversies as well as pushing Pakistan into a debt trap are no secret, the sources added.
“Muizzu’s recent address to the nation is a clear signal that he is under tremendous pressure as national health insurance company Aasandha was asked to expand its facility with accommodation charges in Thailand and Dubai. So far, Aasandha’s facilities were available only in India,” they said.
Noting that India and Maldives had seen a rougher patch in their relationship in the past, the sources told CNN-News18 that India was still hopeful of a resolution.
“They will never get the same diversity like India from any other country. We are open for any help and support to Maldives for any kind of trade and diplomatic relationships,” they said.
India-Maldives Saga
In the latest in the India-Maldives row, the Maldivian president told India on Sunday to withdraw its nearly 100 troops by March 15, a day after returning from China where he signed a raft of deals.
The March deadline was set during talks with Indian officials in the Maldives on Sunday, a top aide to President Mohamed Muizzu said, honouring the leader’s long-standing election pledge.
“The president put forth this request at the meeting of the high-level committee between the two nations… the proposal is currently under consideration,” Muizzu’s Public Policy Secretary Abdulla Nazim Ibrahim told reporters.
India has a deployment of about 89 personnel, including medical staff, to operate three aircraft to patrol the archipelago’s vast maritime territory.
New Delhi’s foreign ministry said Sunday diplomats had discussed how to find a “mutually workable solution” to allow continued Indian air operations that it said provided “humanitarian and medevac (medical evacuation)” services. It said a further round of talks would be held, without giving a date.
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