Recently, we all have seen so many problems between India and Maldives relationship. In the last post, Why every other nation is worried about Indian growth? and some of the answers, we can get from that post. There is no doubt that India is growing very fast and this growth is attracting negative responses from others. Maldives is also suffering from this syndrome of anti-India sentiments. Below, we will discuss in detail why the Maldives is suddenly becoming an anti-India nation from a friendly nation.
1) Rise of radical Islam- In recent times, Maldives has become the hub of radical Islamism and there are some radical factions which don't like non-Islamic countries like India. They see India as a threat to their Islamic propaganda. However, this tiny nation forgets that India is home to the largest population of Muslims in the world. Recently, American agencies banned a few extremists from Maldives which also validates that Islamic radicalism is on rise in Maldives and is a factor of more worry for the Maldives than to India.
2) Rise of Chinese Influence - The Indian Ocean is one of the biggest routes for sea transportation and the Maldives is strategically located to control and dominate this sea route. In past, India had a good relationship with the Maldives and there was the presence of a small Indian army on the islands. However, China which wanted to dominate this trade route didn't like India's upper hand, so it tried to influence the Maldives general elections and supported heavily present President Mohamed Muizzu. So, after winning the election, Muizzu went ahead with anti-India propaganda. This is not a new thing and China does this to all small neighboring nations of India like Nepal, Srilanka. So for the present anti-India protests, China is one major factor.
3) Threat from Increasing India's popularity as Island Tourist Destination - The recent visit of the Indian Prime Minister to the Lakshadweep islands showed the world and Indians that India has more beautiful islands than the Maldives. In 2023, Indians were the highest visitors to the Maldives after Russia. Around 40% of Indian compromise of the total tourists visiting Maldives. So if a significant number of Indians choose much cheaper Indian destinations, then it will hurt Maldives very badly. Maldives government or people may be showing at present that they don't care much about Indian tourists but in reality, this mistake is going to hurt them very badly.
4) Syndrome of Big and Powerful Neighbour - Many small nations that have a big and powerful Neighbour suffer from the typical identity syndrome and under the influence of this syndrome they do many things to show that they are strong and non-influenced. Many present actions of Maldives are also the result of this syndrome only.
These are four big factors responsible for the present state of India-Maldives relationships. India has always helped Maldives in past in different ways and Maldives needs to keep those things in mind.
