NEW DELHI – India has told China it will not intervene in the Maldives andexpects it to reciprocate this measure of “strategic trust” by not crossingcertain “lines of legitimacy” even as the two countries size each other upin the aftermath of the Doklam crisis last year when they faced off on theplateau.
“The days when India believed that South Asia was its primary sphere ofinfluence and that it could prevent other powers, such as China, fromexpanding its own clout are long gone,” a senior government official said.
“India cannot claim sole proprietorship of the region. We can’t stop whatthe Chinese are doing, whether in the Maldives or in Nepal, but we can tellthem about our sensitivities, our lines of legitimacy. If they cross it,the violation of this strategic trust will be upon Beijing,” the officialsaid.
So as India gets ready to welcome Nepal Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Olifor a three-day visit on April 6, it is keeping a watchful eye on the restof the neighbourhood.
Despite some harsh words about India during his election campaign and hisovertures to China, Oli is making his first foreign trip to India — andDelhi is taking some comfort on that score.
Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale is expected to travel to Sri Lanka andBangladesh soon.
Sources said he will not go to the Maldives, despite Maldivian PresidentAbdulla Yameen’s messages of peace.
But the senior government official pointed out that the Doklam crisis is anopportunity for both India and China to re-evaluate each other,notwithstanding the widening economic differential between them.