India will be able to help and support only to the extent that the demand for democracy and freedom from within Maldives continues to put pressure on Yameen and his security forces.
Maritime security challenges in the Indian Ocean Region continue to be an issue of concern and this effective regional mechanism needs to be strengthened to deal effectively with them.
Mohamed Nasheed, in alliance with the Jumhooree Party, poses a formidable challenge to the Abdullah Yameen government. Yameen is using the judiciary as a tool to crush this challenge and further his own political objectives.
India has stepped up its efforts to cooperate on security issues in general and on maritime security in particular with its island neighbours in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). At the core of this lies the initiative to build a trilateral maritime arrangement with Sri Lanka and the Maldives. It is in this larger context that the second National Security Advisors’ (NSAs) meeting took place in Colombo in July 2013.
The emergence of the third political candidate Qasim Ibrahim of the Jumhoory Party has made the present political landscape in Maldives intensely competitive and antagonistic with petitions and counter allegations over the election process. This in all possibility might lead to a long period of political instability.
The Maldives presidential runoff election has been postponed indefinitely further widening the political dispute. The uncertainty highlights the challenges the young democracy faces, having held its first-ever multiparty election in 2008.
President Waheed has opted for an early election, which is scheduled for September 7. Despite reservations expressed by many political parties, the election process is truly underway that could restore democracy in the country.
This article explores the objectives of China's engagement in the Maldives and how the current administration of the country is responding to it. The article also looks at how the Maldives has been used by major powers in the past. On the basis of these analyses, it envisages the path that Maldivian foreign policy is likely to follow in the future and its likely impact on the security environment in the Indian Ocean region.
The challenge before India is to make sure that it stands on the side of popular aspirations, democratic and secular values and representative forces in its immediate periphery.
