Unfolding Geopolitics | Episode 3, Understanding the Maldivian position

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.

Courtesy: MEA Flickr

13 December 2018

Maldives’ new balance

BY Rajiv Bhatia

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

Courtesy: Avas.mv

13 December 2017

For Maldives, it is ‘China First’ now

BY Rajiv Bhatia

Maldives, India’s smallest neighbour, is rapidly coming under China’s ambit of influence: two of nine cooperation agreements that the two countries signed recently are a cause of much concern. The India-Maldives bilateral needs some careful nurturing