Maldives

Ripples in Maldives-India relations: The China factor

Mohamed Muizzu, the newly elected president of the Maldives, seems to be pivoting away from India and moving closer to other sources of support, such as the Arab countries and China. With a wary eye on China's ambitions in the Indian Ocean, India is expected to push back strongly.

Rishi Gupta

31 Jan 2024

Chinese academic: Will the new Maldives government shift from 'India first' to pro-China?

Following the recently concluded presidential election in the Maldives, the global community is observing how its foreign policy might change, particularly vis-a-vis India and China. Does having good relations with one side necessarily come at the expense of relations with the other? Chinese academic Guo Bingyun looks into the issue.

Guo Bingyun

12 Oct 2023

Presidential elections in the Maldives: Anti-India campaign, pro-China results?

While Mohamed Muizzu, largely seen as a pro-China candidate, emerged the winner in the Maldives' recent presidential elections, this may not mean that all is lost for India, says academic Rishi Gupta.

Rishi Gupta

12 Oct 2023

China's growing influence in the Indian Ocean: Wang Yi's visit to Comoros, Sri Lanka and the Maldives

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi's swing through three strategic island states - the Comoros, Maldives, and Sri Lanka - as part of his annual African tour at the beginning of January underlines China's continuing quest for a larger role in the Indian Ocean. Are China's economic incentives and themes of non-intervention and sovereign equality resonating with the Indian Ocean littoral at the expense of India and the US?

C. Raja Mohan

11 Jan 2022

Maldives: Even a tiny state in the Indo Pacific has a big role in China-US competition

The Maldives is well aware that it is of a geostrategic importance to powers seeking to dominate the Indian Ocean and what some term the Indo-Pacific. It has responded well to China's overtures in the past, but with political pushback against China, and other suitors, not least India and the US, calling on its door, how best should it play its cards?

Rishi Gupta

30 Dec 2020