Muizzu in India

MALDIVES President Mohamed Muizzu seems to have finally realised that his tiny country cannot afford to burn bridges with the world’s fastest-growing major economy. On his first state visit to India after assuming office in November last year, Muizzu is keen to have the best of both worlds by engaging with Delhi as well as Beijing. The divisive ‘India out’ campaign did help him win the presidential election, but the strategy soon outlived its uselessness and, instead, started impeding Maldives’ economic recovery. The tourism-dependent island nation’s external debt is rising and its foreign exchange reserves are falling. With China having a knack for luring small countries into a debt trap, Muizzu must understand that Maldives’ relationship with India will be far less transactional. His diplomatic tightrope walk is the best course of action to reverse the economic slide.

Playing the role of the benevolent Big Brother comes easy to India in the neighbourhood, but Delhi needs to do a lot more to loosen the Chinese stranglehold over Maldives and other nations. Indeed, the importance of maintaining good ties with India cannot be overemphasised. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh dangled the bait recently by saying that India would have given more money to Pakistan than what it had sought from the IMF had relations between the two neighbours been better. The message was loud and clear: Why antagonise Delhi when you can benefit from being in its good books?

Muizzu keeps insisting that the bonds of friendship between Male and Beijing have grown stronger over the years despite geographical distance, but he would be well-advised to stick to the time-tested middle path. For its part, a proactive approach will stand India in good stead in the region. With the new leadership in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh perceived to be pro-China, Delhi has its work cut out on multiple fronts.