MALDIVES – Modi government in India gets a fresh snub from the tiny islandnation Maldives as it braces China in its foreign policy priority.
The Maldives wants India to withdraw military helicopters and personnelposted there following the expiry of an agreement in June, its envoy said,the latest snub to New Delhi by President Abdulla Yameen’s China-backedgovernment.
India and China are going head to head in the Maldives, the Indian Oceanisland chain where Beijing is building roads, bridges and a bigger airport,upstaging India which has been the country´s prime provider of military andcivilian aid for decades.
India has opposed Yameen’s crackdown on political rivals and the impositionof an emergency this year and some of the president’s rivals have called onNew Delhi for military intervention, creating worries in the Maldiviangovernment.
The tensions are impacting aid programmes such as security assistance thatNew Delhi has given to smaller countries in the region to help them protectexclusive economic zones, carry out surveys and combat piracy.
The Maldives’ ambassador in India, Ahmed Mohamed, told Reuters that twomilitary helicopters provided by India were mainly used for medicalevacuations but were no longer required as the islands had built up enoughresources of its own.
“They were very useful in the past but with the development of adequateinfrastructure, facilities and resources we are now in a position to handlemedical evacuations on our own,” he said.