India looks to ramp up presence in Maldives

Maldives, located just south of Lakshadweep islands in the Indian Ocean, has somehow slipped below the radar of India's strategic consciousness all these years.

But this is changing. India is ramping up its presence in the tiny Indian Ocean island nation that is now being seen as a potential strategic and economic hotspot. Maldives — for long a political fiefdom of its longest-serving president, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom — is in the middle of a political transition.

Now, it's changing into a multi-party setup, with some Islamist parties being part of the political mix. This has lent a sense of urgency in pushing India's interests in that country.

The coming week will see foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon travel to Male, and following hot on his heels will be minister of state for commerce Jairam Ramesh. On February 6, Gayoom himself will be in Delhi to participate in a conference on global warming — an enduring nightmare for Maldives.

MEA will try and remove some of the strains that have crept into the relationship with Maldives, particularly following terrorist incidents, and a less than acceptable stand of Maldives on Kashmir. But, most importantly, it is India’s opportunity to tell Maldives that it matters big.

The underlying message by India next week will be that Indian globalization is incomplete without a proper relationship with Maldives.

Strategically important, Maldives has suggested it be made a logistics hub for India on the high seas. Maldives has even offered to give an entire island to India's IT industry, to set up shop there. Since India is expanding its presence as a maritime power in the Indian Ocean, leaving Maldives out of the calculation would be short-sighted to say the least.

India has a strong-enough defence and security relationship with Maldives — apart from supplying it with defence equipment and fast-attack craft, India takes care of almost 75% of Maldives' defence training.

But, there needs to be greater economic interest. Despite its proximity to India, it's Singapore and Malaysia that have the greatest investments in Maldives, not India. There is negligible tourist traffic from India, particularly when one considers that Italy sends 131,000 tourists per year as compared to 11,000 from India and 20,000 from China. And, tourism forms 35% of Maldives' GDP.

The new impetus by India seeks to move beyond the visible projects like building the Male airport to getting into Maldives' education sector and fisheries, both high earners for India, as well as exploring other rewarding avenues to set up Indian presence.

At the bottom of India's calculations are several other factors — India doesn't want to lose an existing friend to the Chinese due to short-sighted political and economic calculations. Besides, if Islamist parties are going
to have a say in Maldives' future, India needs to make sure they don't impact India's security interests.

Source: indiatimes.com