160067 Courtesy: Al Majalla
17 January 2024

Unfolding Geopolitics | Episode 3, Understanding the Maldivian position

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Maldives’ President Mohammed Muizzu’s desire to have an independent foreign policy has steered it away from India and closer to China. It has added a new dimension to the strategic contestation in the Indian Ocean. Rajiv Bhatia, Distinguished Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies, shares his insights on the Maldives’ strategic importance in the region, the ‘India Out’ campaign, and the way forward for Indian diplomacy in South Asia.

maldives china Courtesy: Xinhua
15 January 2024

Maldives’ pivot to China

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A tiny nation of half a million people, Maldives has drawn enormous attention from the media, diplomats and informed public since Muizzu’s election last September. The interest has only risen after the recent diplomatic row with India and Muizzu’s increased bonhomie with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Screenshot 2023-10-11 at 2.20.44 PM Courtesy: Voice of America
12 October 2023

Maldives: a democracy evolves

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The recent presidential election outcome in the Maldives reflected a thriving democracy driven by voters' concerns for key domestic issues like employment, housing, education and healthcare. To portray the election as a football match between China and India resulting in the latter’s defeat is to ignore how South Asia's smallest state functions.

Amb Gurjit Singh Courtesy: ANI
17 August 2022

75 years of development cooperation

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Since 1947, India has had a proud record of development cooperation. It began even though it was newly independent and itself developing, but created a camaraderie with movements in other emerging countries. Now after 75 years, its time to move toward an FDI-led model, which will particularly help reduce the rising indebtedness in the developing world.

shutterstock_1457421710 (1) Courtesy: Shutterstock
26 September 2019

Quad in the Indo-Pacific

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The foreign ministers of the Quad countries meet for the first time in New York today even as the Indo-Pacific has turned into a keenly contested geopolitical arena. Some countries are offering to play a mediatory role while other triangular equations are also undergoing change. An analysis of some of the relationships at work here

32063194508_79ef867901_o Courtesy: MEA Flickr
13 December 2018

Maldives’ new balance

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Maldives president Mohamed Solih comes to India this week, fresh from his election win and with a host of good intentions. His aim is to recast the bilateral and restore balance in Maldives’ external relations after the previous president’s China-centric leanings. Such a reversal may not emerge instantly

Books
Gateway House's research on Chinese investments in India's Neighbourhood. Researched by Amit Bhandari and Chandni Jindal. Courtesy: Gateway House
12 March 2018

Chinese Investments in India’s Neighbourhood

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India and the world have watched China’s growing investment in Asia and beyond with a mix of awe and apprehension. The unprecedented scale of these investments are reshaping political arrangements around South Asia.