India-Maldives military ties: A legacy of cooperation and mutual growth-OxBig News Network

India and Maldives have begun to revitalise their military relations, which had strained following a change in regime in the island nation. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Maldivian counterpart, Mohamed Ghassan Maumoon, held talks in New Delhi, reviewing various aspects of bilateral defence and security cooperation. They reaffirmed their commitment to work closely in realising the joint vision for India-Maldives Comprehensive Economic and Maritime Security Partnership.

Rajnath Singh reaffirmed India’s readiness to support the Maldives in capability enhancement for defence preparedness, including provisioning of defence platforms and assets to augment its capacities, as per its national priorities and in line with New Delhi’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy and the vision of SAGAR (Security and Growth for all in the Region), according to an official statement issued by the Ministry of Defence.

Maumoon, on his first official visit to India, appreciated India’s historical role as ‘First Responder’ for the Maldives and thanked New Delhi for assisting Male in augmenting the modern infrastructural capacities and training of defence and security personnel. On the Government of Maldives’ request, India also handed over defence equipment and stores to the Maldives, the statement added.

India and Maldives share ethnic, linguistic, cultural, religious and commercial links steeped in antiquity. The relations have been close, cordial and multi-dimensional. India was among the first to recognise the Maldives after Independence in 1965 and to establish diplomatic relations with the country.

Maldives is a chain of 26 atolls that form 1,190 islands in the vicinity of the Equator and the smallest country in Asia, with a land area of 298 sq km and a population of 5.15 lakh. Its economy is primarily based on tourism and fisheries.

Its proximity to the Indian peninsula – barely 130 km away from Minicoy in the Lakshadweep and 420 km from India’s West coast – and its location at the hub of commercial sea-lanes running through the Indian Ocean from the middle east to south-east Asia instils it with significant strategic importance to India. About 720 km to its north-east is Sri Lanka.

It was as early as December 1976 that India and the Maldives signed a maritime boundary treaty, officially and amicably demarcating their maritime boundaries and exclusive economic zones, followed by a comprehensive trade agreement in 1981. India has provided extensive economic aid to Maldives, besides assisting its National Defence Force.

The most notable aspect of military assistance to Maldives was in 1988 when India helped the then government of Maldives, led by president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, thwart a coup by armed mercenaries led by a Maldivian businessman, Abdullah Luthufee, and supported by People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam, a secessionist organisation in Sri Lanka.

Following a request from Gayoom, who had been denied assistance by Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Singapore, United Kingdom and the United States, India, as part of Operation Cactus, airlifted troops to help the Maldivian government regain control of areas taken over by the mercenaries and restore order. Commandos from the Agra-based 50 Independent Parachute Brigade as well as naval ships were involved in the operation, the success of which further strengthened bilateral ties and defence and security has been a major area of cooperation since then.

The training of Maldivian personnel, including doctors at Armed Forces Medical College, maritime domain awareness, gifting of hardware, infrastructure and capability development, patrolling, anti-narcotics operations and disaster management, are key elements of cooperation.

In April 2006, the Indian Navy gifted a Trinkat Class fast attack craft to Maldives for its Coast Guard. Two HAL-made Dhruv helicopters and a Dornier 228 light aircraft have also been gifted to Maldives.

In 2009, the Maldivian government approached India over fear that its island resorts, an important element of its tourism economy, could be taken over by terrorists, and as a result, Maldives’ relevance in India’s security calculus increased.

Under subsequent agreements, India permanently stationed two helicopters in the country to enhance its surveillance capabilities and the ability to respond swiftly to threats, along with agreeing to expand and interlink the coastal radar chain in Maldives, set up with Indian assistance, with its own coastal radar system. The Indian Coast Guard also carried out regular air sorties over the island nation to look out for suspicious movements or vessels.

Agreements also provided for Maldivian defence teams to visit the tri-services Andaman and Nicobar Command to observe the management of security and surveillance in island territories. Besides a defence dialogue at the secretary level, there are presently three major joint military exercises — Ekuverin, Ekatha and Dosti — which also include Sri Lanka, to enhance the interoperability in counter-terrorism operations in urban or semi-urban environments.

After its capital, Male, was hit by a drinking water crisis in December 2014 following collapse of the island’s only water treatment plant, Maldives urged India for immediate help. Under Operation Neer, Indian Air Force’s C-17 Globemaster and Il-76 heavy lift transporters ferried bottled water to the island. The Indian Navy also sent in ships like INS Sukanya and INS which can produce fresh water using their on-board desalination plants.

Under a pact signed in February 2021, India extended a USD 50 million line of credit to Maldives for defence projects, mainly for the development, support and maintenance of the harbour at Uthuru Thila Falhu Naval Base.

In November 2023, Mohamed Muizzu assumed the office of the president of Maldives, winning the election on an “India Out” platform, defeating his pro-India incumbent opponent, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. This transition marked the beginning of deterioration of bilateral relations.

Muizzu proceeded to Beijing in January 2024, becoming the first Maldivian president to visit China before India. During the visit, the two countries agreed to develop an action plan for establishing a comprehensive strategic cooperation partnership between China and Maldives. Soon after this visit, he stepped up his “India Out” campaign, asking the Indian Government to withdraw its troops, aircraft and military assets stationed in the Maldives.

China and Maldives had established diplomatic relations in October 1972 and till 2008, trade and interface between the two were negligible. Chinese capital inflows and tourists began picking up significantly after 2010.

India-Maldives bilateral relations began coming back on track in August 2024, when they agreed to sort out differences after foreign minister S Jaishankar’s visit to Male. Earlier, Muizzu visited India to attend Prime Minister Modi’s swearing-in ceremony in June 2024. Ties have improved significantly since then, with India announcing new investments and cooperation to help build infrastructure in the Maldives.