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India-Maldives friendship
Why the largest democracy needs the smallest
Raj Chengappa

Male, November 12
The two heads of states are a study in contrast - one a gray eminence, the other a youthful rebel. While Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh heads the world’s largest democracy, Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed rules the smallest in South Asia - it has a population of just 3 lakh, or a little less than third of that of Chandigarh. Yet the relationship is symbiotic and India cannot afford to neglect its smallest neighbour.

The prime reason being that Maldives, which is some 550 km southwest of Thiruvananthapuram is the strategic gateway to the Indian Ocean. With over 1,192 low-lying coral islands grouped into 26 atolls, it forms a string of pearls strewn across the ocean. Over 95 per cent of India’s international trade by volume and 75 per cent by value pass through the Indian Ocean route that Maldives overlooks.

India had long kept Maldives under its watchful eye, funding its development liberally and even sending its armed forces in 1998 to overthrow a daring coup engineering by Lankan rebels. It has of late been concerned with China’s efforts to cultivate the Maldives and help it with investments. To counter any such thrust, India has recently stepped up its development aid to Maldives both in cash and kind.

At the 17th summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) which Maldives hosted, India used the opportunity to further cement its ties with the island nation with Manmohan Singh taking a day out to make a full-fledged state visit to Male, his first as Prime Minister.

Today, he held summit meeting with Nasheed and was bestowed the rare honour of being the first foreign head of state to address the Majlis, the country’s Parliament, in its 78-year-old history.

At his summit meeting with Nasheed, Manmohan announced a slew of financial assistance that India would provide to the Maldives. Among them was a decision by India to extend a Standby Credit Facility of $100 million to meet its short term budgetary needs and enable it to important essential commodities.

In 2008, India had extended a similar assistance and followed it up in 2009 with a full subscription to $ 100 million Treasury bonds issued by the Maldives Monetary Authority. More recently India in August this year also signed $40 million Line of Credit for building housing units.

Significantly, apart from financial assistance, India also signed a Framework Agreement on Cooperation for Development during the Prime Minister’s state visit that lays out a roadmap on a range of issues, including economy, trade, investments and security. Given that Maldives straddles a sensitive ocean region, the two leaders agreed to cooperate on enhancing maritime security in the Indian Ocean region through coordinated patrolling and aerial surveillance, exchange of information, capacity building and development of an effective legal framework.

With Maldives in real danger of being submerged if global warming remains unchecked and sea levels rise, Manmohan Singh in his address to the Majlis was careful to address the country’s concerns. He said India was committed to keep its per capita emissions below the average of industrialised countries and also has committed to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 20% between 2005 and 2020. He also said that India would cooperate with Maldives in developing clean technology.