Top MEA official heads to Male as crisis deepens; China backs Abdullah Yameen regime

NEW DELHI: Amid deepening political crisis in Maldives following the clampdown on Opposition parties, a senior Indian official could visit Male in March first week ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proposed trip there mid-March.

The official level visit will help India gauge the condition on the ground, an official indicated. The government has not yet decided to call off Modi’s trip due to the political crisis in the critical Indian Ocean country.

This trip comes amid China’s stand on Maldives, where it appears to have backed Abdullah Yameen as it said that it believes the regime can handle the crisis. Maldives has attracted China’s attention, much to Delhi’s discomfiture. President Yameen has developed pro-Chinese tilt despite his public pronouncements in India’s favour, Indian officials rued.

Chinese President Xi Jinping had visited Male ahead of India in September last year and pledged support for expansion of airport in the capital, among various other projects including a road link project in the southern part of the country. Maldives has been declared as a stop in China’s Maritime Silk Route strategy. Scores of tourists from China have been contributing to the Maldivian economy that depends largely on tourism, experts pointed out.

India has decades old security and strategic links with Maldives and former President MA Gayoom safeguarded Delhi’s interests, officials said. Gayoom’s successor, Nasheed, now behind bars, also did not allow an increase in Chinese presence.

But Waheed, who became president after Nasheed’s ouster in 2012, pursued a line that favoured China, experts said.

Modi is expected to announce some key development and partnership projects during his Male visit, officials said, adding that this could correct the pro-China tilt of the Yameen government.

An expert, who wat ches Maldivian situation closely, however, said he hoped that the PM should send out a strong message to the ruling political leadership in keeping with his policy of deeper engagement with South Asian neighbours.