The new year of 2024 began with a social media war between India and Maldives, which soon escalated into a diplomatic row. As tensions prevail between the longtime allies, New Delhi and Male are working to review the withdrawal of Indian military personnel from the island nation.
India and Maldives conducted a fourth round of bilateral talks on Friday in which the two governments reviewed the replacement of military personnel in Maldives. Shortly after the row erupted, President Mohammed Muizzu ordered the withdrawal of Indian troops and presented New Delhi with a deadline of May 10.
Following Muizzu's ultimatum, Indian military troops were replaced by civilian teams. As of May 4, a final batch of military personnel remains at the aviation platforms in Maldives and need to be replaced last this week.
As the deadline looms for India to replace its military troops, here's a lookback on what went down between India and Maldives.
India Maldives Row - What Started It?
The diplomatic row between New Delhi and Male began after Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted pictures on social media platform X from his recent visit to the Indian islands of Lakshadweep.
In his tweet, the prime minister did not make any mention of Maldives. However, seeing the pictures, many netizens began to question why anyone would go to the Maldives when India has the Lakshadweep Islands.
Following this discourse, three Maldivian deputy ministers and a few MPs used derogatory language towards PM Modi and called the leader a "clown" and "puppet". Maldivian MPs took to X and declared that the idea of competing with Maldives as a tourist destination was a "delusional idea" for India.
After these statements were made, the Maldives government was quick to suspend the deputy ministers and issue a clarification that these statement against India and Prime Minister Modi "don't not reflect the stance or views of the government".
Despite the Maldives government's swift response, #BoycottMaldives became the number trend in India. What started out as a social media war soon escalated into a diplomatic row after the Ministry of External Affairs summoned the Maldivian Envoy to India Ibrahim Shaheeb to express its "Strong concerns" regarding the comments made against the prime minister.
However, before this social media war, tensions between India and Maldives had already started to brew with the election of Mohammed Muizzu as the President of the island nation.
Muizzu's 'India Out' Campaign
Before the social media outrage of January 2024, tensions between New Delhi and Male had already been on the rise and one of the major reasons for this was Mohammed Muizzu and his "India Out" campaign.
Ahead of the elections, Muizzu and former President Abdullah Yameen, both seen as pro-China, fronted the India Out campaign during their campaigning.
In September 2023, Muizzu defeated incumbent Ibrahim Solih and was elected the new president. After his win, Muizzu further amplified his India Out campaign and vowed to remove the presence of Indian military on the island.
Maldives, China Cosy Up To Each Other
Shortly after the row with India erupted, President Muizzu embarked on his first presidential trip to China. As per Maldives, the president had been invited on the state visit by his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
During his visit, Muizzu and Jinping set the stage for increased investment from China in the Maldives as they both agreed to form a "comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership".
Due to its row with India, Maldives also appealed to China from a tourism perspective, shortly after which, Chinese tourists surpassed the number of Indian tourists on the Indian Ocean archipelago.
With China and Maldives improving and strengthening its ties, India keeps a "Watchful eye" for increased Chinese presence in the India Ocean.
Chinese marine research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 3 has already marked two visits the Maldivian waters, within two months. Taking notice of this, MEA stated that it will be taking "appropriate measures" to safeguard its national and economic security.
Despite tensions, India and Maldives are agreed to another bilateral meeting in Male during June-July to discuss an agreeable date for the complete withdrawal of Indian troops.
India had around 70 to 80 military personnel in Maldives who would operate and maintain radars, helicopters and aircrafts in the island nation, some of which are used for medical evacuations. As of May 2024, majority of the military personnel has been replaced by civilian personnel.
