Maldives Civil-Military Issues

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pankajs
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by pankajs »

.. an apparent snub?

If that bothers you be prepared for more. A similar invite was sent to China. Just the other day I read of another invites to Maldives for some upcoming exercise off Kochi.
nam
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by nam »

Maldives would like a Dornier aircraft instead of ALH. Obviously Dornier provides larger range.

Why is it such a problem? Stupid media.
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by shiv »

^^
Media control of ostensibly intelligent minds is as bad. See the reactions on the forum without reading the details. We are the same people, media and us.
pankajs
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by pankajs »

Even if it weren't a matter of ALH vs Dornier it does not matter.

You do what you have to do and let Maldives <sub others as needed> do as they wish. You make your best offer and let Maldives decide for itself. If it want's Baki help in patrolling it EEZ so be it.
Prem
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by Prem »

http://www.business-standard.com/articl ... 110_1.html
China involved in massive land grabbing in Maldives? US Pentagon concerned
Amid allegations of China engaging in massive land grabbing in the Maldives, the Pentagon on Saturday said it was a cause of concern for the US.
Asserting that the US was "committed to a free and open" Indo-Pacific rules-based order, the Pentagon said anything else would cause the US concern."The US is committed to a free and open Indo-Pacific rules-based order. We have seen concerning developments in Maldives as far as the Chinese influence is concerned," Joe Felter, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia, told PTI in interview."It's in India's backyard. We know it's of concern to India. So, yes, (the situation in Maldives) is a concern. We will see how it plays out. It emphasizes some of our priorities identified in our National Defence Strategy," the top Pentagon official said.He was responding to a question on the allegations of a Maldivian opposition leader and a former foreign minister, on the Chinese land grabbing activities in the island nation with the potential of developing them into a military outpost.Felter said these developments were "a cause of concern" for all states that supported the maintenance of a rules-based order."If you look at similar activities across the region, it gives us some cause for concern. From Djibouti to, Gwadar put to Hambantota port in Sri Lanka, and now potentially the Maldives and then extending further east, it's of concern," he said.Other countries in the region have expressed similar concern, including India, he noted."We believe the interests of all states- large and small- are best served by maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific and a rules-based order. Some of China's activities that we've observed give us concern because they do not seem to be consistent with those interests. I suspect India shares these concerns as well," Felter said.During a recent visit to the US, Ahmed Naseem, a former foreign minister of Maldives, had alleged that China was meddling in internal affairs of Maldives and had indulged itself in a massive land grabbing endeavour which if left unchecked would pose a major strategic threat to both the US and India.China, he alleged, appeared to be keen on building a base in the Maldives which one day may house warships and submarines.
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by Neshant »

Perhaps US/UK going to overthrow the Maldivian dictator sometime soon
B Upadhyay
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by B Upadhyay »

Yes Priminister even had an episode dedicated to a coup in an Northern Indian Ocean island (they call it St George, but could have been any island...and Brits send paratroopers to prevent takeover)...rather prescient or maybe it was after Op Cactus which prevented the coup there... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4xNMMbwdA8
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by kit »

Prem wrote:http://www.business-standard.com/articl ... 110_1.html
China involved in massive land grabbing in Maldives? US Pentagon concerned
Amid allegations of China engaging in massive land grabbing in the Maldives, the Pentagon on Saturday said it was a cause of concern for the US.
Asserting that the US was "committed to a free and open" Indo-Pacific rules-based order, the Pentagon said anything else would cause the US concern."The US is committed to a free and open Indo-Pacific rules-based order. We have seen concerning developments in Maldives as far as the Chinese influence is concerned," Joe Felter, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia, told PTI in interview."It's in India's backyard. We know it's of concern to India. So, yes, (the situation in Maldives) is a concern. We will see how it plays out. It emphasizes some of our priorities identified in our National Defence Strategy," the top Pentagon official said.He was responding to a question on the allegations of a Maldivian opposition leader and a former foreign minister, on the Chinese land grabbing activities in the island nation with the potential of developing them into a military outpost.Felter said these developments were "a cause of concern" for all states that supported the maintenance of a rules-based order."If you look at similar activities across the region, it gives us some cause for concern. From Djibouti to, Gwadar put to Hambantota port in Sri Lanka, and now potentially the Maldives and then extending further east, it's of concern," he said.Other countries in the region have expressed similar concern, including India, he noted."We believe the interests of all states- large and small- are best served by maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific and a rules-based order. Some of China's activities that we've observed give us concern because they do not seem to be consistent with those interests. I suspect India shares these concerns as well," Felter said.During a recent visit to the US, Ahmed Naseem, a former foreign minister of Maldives, had alleged that China was meddling in internal affairs of Maldives and had indulged itself in a massive land grabbing endeavour which if left unchecked would pose a major strategic threat to both the US and India.China, he alleged, appeared to be keen on building a base in the Maldives which one day may house warships and submarines.
So what stops them from militarily intervening in Maldives ? Does the US formally need a reason ., yeah ..no oil :((
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by pankajs »

Devirupa Mitra Verified account @DevirupaM 8h8 hours ago

In April, chief of Maldives defence forces asked for a bilateral with Indian delegation in Kuala Lumpur on side lines of DSA 2018. After ✅ from Delhi, they met.
(but India ensured Maldives couldn't make a big deal out of it - photo-op request was denied)
India running scared of Maldives. :((
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by Neshant »

Democratic elections will be restored in the Maldives at some point.

As such, this guy's reign is not likely to be a long one I'd wager.
ShauryaT
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by ShauryaT »

India back in Maldives, Indian Navy to patrol waters of island nation jointly
Indian Navy Ship Sumedha - an offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) - has been deployed in Maldivian waters to carry out surveillance of the exclusive economic waters of Maldives with the Maldivian military. And, the elite Marine commandos of the Indian Navy are also back in Maldives to train the Maldivian military on asymmetric warfare.
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by SSridhar »

Extremist Spectre - Nijeesh N, South Asia Terrorism Portal
The Global Terrorism Index 2017 report states, "Over the last 15 years, Bhutan and the Maldives have experienced the lowest levels of terrorist impact in the region." There were, nevertheless, several developments indicative of growing Islamist radicalization in the Maldives in the recent past, adversely impacting its national security. Former President Mohamed Nasheed in an interview published on February 25, 2018, thus warned,
The Maldives is threatened by a religious extremist take over. It is not an exaggeration to say that there is now a parallel state in the Maldives. A state within the state. A network of religious radicals that have infiltrated strategic institutions, the government, and the street gangs. They are ready to overrun the country and impose a radical version of religion upon the Maldivians and tourists alike. President Yameen [Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom] works with this 'deep state', but he cannot control it.
Worryingly, several Maldivians have gone to the conflict zones in Syria and Iraq to participate in jihad. On January 15, 2018, Maldives’ Defence Minister Adam Shareef had disclosed that 61 Maldivians had travelled to Syria to fight along with jihadi groups [Islamic State or Daesh and al Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front or Jabhat al-Nusra – currently also known as the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham]. However, the Soufan Group’s report on foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq published in December 2015 claimed that around 200 Maldivians were fighting in Syria and Iraq, making the Maldives the world’s second largest number of foreign fighters ‘per capita’ (500 fighters per million population), after Tunisia (at 545.5 fighters per million).

Defence Minister Shareef had also disclosed that around 68 persons, including nine children, had been stopped from going to Syria to join jihadist groups. Reports indicate that the first traces of such emigration were noticed when two youth were detained at the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) at Male in October 2013. Some of the other recent arrests include:

October 21, 2017: Two Maldivians en-route to Syria were arrested in Turkey and brought back to their country.

September 23, 2017: Three Maldivians en route to Syria were arrested in Turkey and brought back. The three men were arrested in a joint operation with the Turkish law enforcement authorities while they were trying to cross the border into Syria.

August 7-9, 2017: Two Maldivians were among 19 suspected terrorists arrested for their alleged links with Islamic State in Malaysia. The duo was using Malaysia and Singapore as their transit points before heading to Syria to join Daesh.

February, 2017: A Maldivian man was arrested in Turkey and deported to the Maldives while attempting to cross-over to Syria.

February, 2016: Three Maldivians, identified as Ahmed Latheef, Ahmed Suhail Moosa and Munawwar Abdulla were arrested on the Turkey-Syria border and extradited to the Maldives in March.

Further, according to a classified report prepared by the Indian Intelligence Bureau in July 2016, the Islamic State reportedly had as many as 500 sympathisers in Maldives in addition to those who had already travelled to Syria and Iraq to join the conflict.

Significantly, Yameen Rasheed, a popular liberal blogger and a strong voice against radical Islamist elements, was stabbed to death in his apartment in Male on the North Male Atoll on April 23, 2017. Weeks before his assassination, Rasheed had received several death threats from various sources, including Islamic State-inspired extremist groups and gangs.

Surprisingly, according to an April 17, 2018 report, one Maldivian (identity not revealed), who in 2017 went to Syria to fight alongside terrorist groups (along with his wife and child) returned to the Maldives in March 2018 and lives in the capital, Male. Reports indicate that he had participated in terrorist activities while in Syria; however, no action has been initiated against him.

According to various releases from Islamic State and al Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra, at least 12 to 20 Maldivians have already been killed in different conflict zones of the Middle East. In one such incident, on December 24, 2017, a 25 year old Maldivian fighter, a native of Naivaidhoo on the Haa Dhaal Atoll, who left the country in early 2017, (name not specified) was killed while fighting in Syria.

Confirming the continuing presence of Maldivians in West Asian conflict zones on January 20, 2018, Jabhat al-Nusra’s media wing, Bilad al-Sham Media (BASM, the media outlet for Maldivians fighting in Syria) released a video of Maldivian fighters undertaking jihadi training at an unspecified location in Syria. The video shows men in camouflage performing drills, handling of weapons and raiding buildings.

In the meantime, with Daesh losing ground in Syria and Iraq, the foreign fighters have started retuning home, to their country of origin, including Maldives. This is likely to further endanger the security situation within the country. Referring to the challenges to countries from Daesh returnees the Global Terrorism Index 2017 report warned,
In Asia, two countries that have little history of violent Islamist attacks are grappling with these challenges; Malaysia and the Maldives. Both have seen a startling number of their citizens travel to Iraq and Syria relative to their population.
It is indeed a sign of danger as there have already been attempts in the past by the cadres of Islamic State to create trouble in the country. The incidents include:

November 16, 2017: Two men were arrested for making an improvised explosive device (IED) and Police recovered bomb making equipment at the home of one of them in Male. Though the Police did not reveal any further information about the incident, sources indicate that “one [of the arrested persons] is a senior member of a gang and both are suspected to have had connections with foreign jihadi groups”.

November 15, 2017: Maldivian officials confirmed that two Maldivians, Ishag Ali and Hussein Afeef, who were arrested on an unspecified date in September 2017 for their connection with Islamic State, were planning to carry out a suicide attack in the capital Male. The prosecutor general’s spokesman Adam Thaufeeq disclosed that one was charged for planning a suicide attack, while the other was charged for attempting to carry it out, adding, “The police investigation found out that these men are affiliated with IS and they were planning to carry out an attack in Male.”

May 2017: A Maldivian man was arrested for hoisting the flag of Islamic State near the skating ground of the artificial beach in Male.

The initial sign of Daesh’s presence in the country was exposed with the emergence of an online group, called Islamic State of Maldives (ISM), which claimed to be a local affiliate, in the last week of July 2014. Later on September 5, 2014, there was a protest conducted by about 200 people, including women and children, some carrying Islamic State flags, calling for the full implementation of Sharia law and an end to secular rule in the Maldives.

There have, in addition, been several acts of violence indicative of the prevalent radicalization. These prominently include:

August 8, 2014: Well-known blogger and journalist, Ahmed Rilwan, was abducted by unidentified people from at his apartment in the island of Hulhumale in North Male Atoll. Rilwan, a one-time Islamist who became a critic of the religious right-wing, played a major role in exposing the activities of Islamist extremist groups in the country. Though the Maldives Police is investigating his case, they are yet to locate him.

October 1, 2012: Religious scholar and Member of Parliament for Ungoofaaru Constituency, Afrasheem Ali, was stabbed to death by Islamist extremists after he expressed his reformist views about religion, especially related to gender equality and music, in a television broadcast.

June 4, 2012: Blogger and human rights activist, Ismail Hilath Rasheed narrowly survived a murder attempt after he was stabbed in the neck by three Islamist extremists. It was the third physical assault on him after he started getting regular death threats subsequent to his writing in 2009, that some extremists were keeping under-age girls as concubines.

The September 29, 2007, Sultan Park bombing in Male is considered as the first-ever Islamist terror attack in the Maldives. A crude bomb, consisting of a gas cylinder, a mobile phone, and a washing machine motor, exploded in Sultan Park (now renamed as Rasrani Bageechaa) located near the Islamic Centre in the capital Male. 12 foreign tourists, including eight Chinese, two British, and two Japanese, were seriously injured.

The threat of terror persists. In September 2017, the Foreign Office of the United Kingdom updated its terror guidelines on the Maldives, warning that an attack was “very likely”, and adding, “Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places frequented by expatriates and foreign travellers including tourists.”

With the growing influence of radicalization and jihadi networks in the country, the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) was established through Presidential Decree (2016/3) on February 25, 2016. The NCTC, which works under the direct supervision of the Minister of Defence and National Security, and is currently staffed by the Maldivian National Defence Force (MNDF), constituted two executive committees: the Counter Terrorism Steering Committee and the Deradicalization Committee, to focus on the issues of Maldivian citizens joining as fighters in conflict zones such as Syria. According to NCTC’s March 2018 Newsletter, “as a result of collaborative efforts between NCTC, Maldives Police Service, Maldives Immigration and with enormous support from international partners, the number of Maldivian Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs) traveling to Syria has declined to a single case in the first three months of 2018.”

In spite of this brave posturing the State responses to these emerging threats remain uncertain. Even the anti-terrorism laws in the country define the idea of terrorism and affiliation to terrorist organizations in a vague manner, and could be used more against the political opposition rather than against its declared targets.

Amidst all this, the smallest country in South Asia, comprising 1,192 small islands, grouped in 26 atolls and situated in the Indian Ocean, is going through another cycle of political crises. President Abdulla Yameen declared a 15-day ‘state of emergency’ in the country on February 5, 2018, soon after the Supreme Court ordered the release of a group of opposition political leaders, including the exiled former President Mohamed Nasheed, who had been convicted in widely criticised trials. The state of emergency was extended by another 30 days on February 20, 2018, but eventually ended on March 22, 2018, when the President decided to withdraw the draconian law after filing terrorism charges against his political opponents, including his half-brother and former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, his son-in-law Mohamed Nadheem, Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed and Justice Ali Hameed, four opposition lawmakers and an ex-Police commissioner. Former President Mohamed Nasheed, who was granted political asylum in Britain in 2016 and leads the main opposition party from exile, alleged that the President’s moves were aimed at winning the Presidential elections scheduled for September 2018.

The Maldivian state has sought to use Islamist mobilization to contain Islamist radicalization, creating contradictory impulses within the system, and creating spaces for extremism and terrorism. It is only through of strategy of consistently and narrowly targeting extremists, even as the state distances itself from its own brand of religious radicalization, that current trends can be neutralized and reversed, and the threat of terrorism in and from the Maldives contained.
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by Philip »

The Maldives if left under the jackboot of the current tyrant is going to be a huge terrorist problem for the region and base for Islamic extremists to spread out into the region.Past time to have intervened.Pity.
Neshant
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by Neshant »

Is there any point in holding elections when it's obvious the results are already rigged.


-----
Maldives sets presidential vote with opposition in jail or exile

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/wor ... 505937.cms
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by chetak »

Being portrayed as though it is a one sided Indian Govt discrimination against Indians, even though it is the Maldives which has instigated and started the dispute

They should be paid back in the very same coin and the payback may well have started. Kick their butts and hard.

Today, it's their MP and tomorrow, who knows how India may escalate.

Maldives Ambassador 'concerned' after India denied entry to MP Nihan
06 June 2018,

Maldivian Ambassador to India Ahmed Mohamed Wednesday said that India has still not stated a reason why ruling Progressive Party of Maldives’ (PPM) parliamentary group leader and Villimale MP Ahmed Nihan was denied entry to India, and that the situation is alarming.

MP Nihan had travelled to Chennai Monday night for to seek medical treatment. Upon his arrival, however, the immigration officers refused to grant him a visa, despite him carrying a diplomatic passport which bears a SAARC visa sticker that allows visa-free entry to all member countries.

He was held at the airport for four hours before the authorities asked him to leave on the next available flight.


This is the first incident where a top government official has been refused a visa to neighbouring India, recently.

The two individuals travelling with the lawmaker were granted entry to the country.
Downturn in ties with Maldives hits Indians’ job opportunities

Downturn in ties with Maldives hits Indians’ job opportunities

Suhasini Haidar NEW DELHI, JUNE 14, 2018

Applications for work permits of around 2,000 Indians are pending with the Maldivian Embassy.

Advertisements from companies that are hiring say “Indians need not apply” as they would not be given permits to work there

In a short span of six months, 21-year-old Dinesh Nair’s* hopes have turned to dust, after the dream job he was offered was taken away because of the downturn in India-Maldives ties.

Since February, when Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen ordered an Emergency, which India took a strong position against, the Maldives Immigration Authority has reportedly held up thousands of work permits to Indians, including Mr. Nair’s, who was offered a well-paid position at the premier Four Seasons Resort.

“I gave up several other job offers to accept this one; little did I know that I would be facing unemployment instead,” he told The Hindu, barely able to hold back his tears as he spoke over the telephone, saying that he is worried about being able to pay back education loans of about ₹3 lakh.

More startling are public advertisements from companies that are hiring, but say clearly that “Indians need not apply”, as they would not be given work permits. One post by the internationally renowned Marriott chain of hotels that advertised on Wednesday for 18 jobs said: “Please note that work permits are not currently being issued to Indian Nationals.”

The general manager of the St. Regis in Vommuli, Alexander Blair, also advertised for the chef of an Indian speciality restaurant, adding on his page on the online jobs network LinkedIn, “Unfortunately, with the current situation that Work Permits are not being granted to Indian Nationals, we are ideally searching for an Indian who is holding another passport or is the spouse of a Maldivian.” The Hindu reached out to Mr. Blair for a comment, but he did not respond.

Despite the increasing numbers of desperate job-seekers, the MEA has refused to take up the matter, and the Embassy of India in the Maldives (EoI) has replied to queries from the job-seekers by saying it cannot help.

“It is the prerogative of the Maldivian immigration to issue visa or not,” said one reply from the visa officer at the EoI in Male. Sources say India has taken up the issue through diplomatic channels “urging the Maldives government to abide by the bilateral visa agreement,” with the hope that the matter would be resolved soon.

But for some like 31-year-old registered male nurse Thomas Jacob*, time is running out, as the manager of a resort that hired him now says he will not hold his job beyond July 1. He says his “only hope” is to have his voice heard by the Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi, and spends “morning, noon and night” at his hometown in Kerala tweeting to Minister Sushma Swaraj and emailing officials concerned.

Banking on Minister
Mr. Jacob had been working at a hospital in Male when he was recruited as a nurse at an upscale resort in January. He accepted the job, and decided to return home for a brief holiday to see his four-year-old son and wife who is pregnant, while his work permit was being sorted out.

“My entire family, my parents all depend on me and now I can’t even pay my life insurance premium or my loans back. Ms. Swaraj listens to all sorts of requests from people, and hundreds of us have been mass-tweeting her for days hoping she will do something,” he told The Hindu. “Frankly, it’s my last hope, as I have no job options here,” he said.

The Maldivian Embassy in Delhi declined to comment on the issue. On March 12, Immigration Department spokesman Hassan Khaleel told the Maldives’ Independent newspaper that reports of visa delays for Indians were “completely false.”

However, officials who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity said that thousands of Indians face a squeeze on their work permits from the Maldivian government in place since February, and there appeared to be a “strict directive” from the Maldivian President’s office against work permits to Indians, as well as against facilitating other requests from Indian companies there. Around 29,000 Indians live and work in the Maldives, and an estimated 2,000 have pending applications for work permits.

India-Maldives ties have been on the downswing since 2015, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi cancelled his visit to Male over the treatment of opposition leaders by President Yameen. Since then, China’s growing presence and a free trade agreement with Beijing as well as President Yameen’s emergency declaration and arrest of opposition leaders have led to protests from India, further straining ties. On Tuesday, The Hindu had reported that the Maldives has told India to remove its helicopters from two strategic locations by the end of June, when visas of Indian Coast guard and naval pilots and personnel manning the choppers will expire; an indication that ties could plummet further.

(*Names changed on request)
Neshant
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by Neshant »

With elections not far off, all opposition candidates are being jailed as quickly as possible.

Not that opposition even matters if the election results will be cooked up.

How long can this dictator stay in power before he is over thrown.

Any guesses? In South Asia, the average is not more than a few years tops.

------

Former Maldives president, chief justice get 19 months in jail

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/wor ... 582285.cms
chetak
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by chetak »

Neshant wrote:With elections not far off, all opposition candidates are being jailed as quickly as possible.

Not that opposition even matters if the election results will be cooked up.

How long can this dictator stay in power before he is over thrown.

Any guesses? In South Asia, the average is not more than a few years tops.

------

Former Maldives president, chief justice get 19 months in jail

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/wor ... 582285.cms
what do you mean "overthrown"

He is china owned, china run, as well as, china insured. Game, set and match.

Chinese military personnel are sitting in the maldives in the guise of "construction" workers.

It is not a surprise that elections are going to be rigged, but the fact that they are going to be held at all when the desired results are already known is the real surprise.

The hans will never ever again make the same mistake that they made in srilanka by letting the opposition win the elections.
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by Kashi »

chetak wrote:
Neshant wrote:It is not a surprise that elections are going to be rigged, but the fact that they are going to be held at all when the desired results are already known is the real surprise.
Why should that be a surprise. Every autocratic regime seeks to legitimise themselves by holding such "elections" to provide the "democratic set up" fig leaf. When the pre-dtermined results are finally declared, they'll claim "people's mandate".

These elections would be no different from the "elections" in Pakistan under Musharraf, the "elections" in Iraq under Saddam or the "elections" in NoKo.
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by Neshant »

If we are lucky, we'll get to see a Musharaff type election result - where a staggering 96% voted for him to be President.

If you're going to rig an election, at least rig it with believable results.
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by chetak »

Neshant wrote:If we are lucky, we'll get to see a Musharaff type election result - where a staggering 96% voted for him to be President.

If you're going to rig an election, at least rig it with believable results.
When the slogan for the presidential campaign is "vote for me, or else....", even 96% winning margin is a bad result.
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by abhik »

As with other "democratic-dictators" such as pootin or erdogan(du), having free and fare elections is not a guarantee that they will get voted out - the population may actually support them.
chetak
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by chetak »

abhik wrote:As with other "democratic-dictators" such as pootin or erdogan(du), having free and fare elections is not a guarantee that they will get voted out - the population may actually support them.
Putin is OK for russia.

If the majority of ruskis are not objecting, I fail to understand exactly what's tickling the testimonials of western journos and liberati??
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by Austin »

Maldives sets deadline for India on taking back helicopters

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/m ... 138256.ece
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by nits »

UNSC non-permanent seat: India voted against Maldives, ensured it lost :D
Diplomatic sources told ToI that India didn't just vote for Indonesia but also worked to ensure that its hostile Indian Ocean neighbour fared poorly in the election.

Indonesia finally trumped Male's bid for the Asia-Pacific seat by an overwhelming margin. The Maldives got support from only 46 countries in the secret ballot voting on June 8 against the 144 which voted for Indonesia.

Details percolating through now indicate that not only did India not vote for the Maldives but also worked to ensure that the latter's core base of small island nations was considerably eroded. This meant that Male's final tally fell well short of even its own expectations.
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by Philip »

There is no comparison between Putin , immensely popular in Russia with the Maldivian despot who imprisons almost all the opposition leaders, supreme court judges and uses his military to terrorise the locals.All with the blessings of China.We should've intervened when the sh*t hit the fan as we've done so before during the Rajiv era.He saw the danger immediately.Sadly our advisers today and spastics in the MEA piddle in their pants when China thousands of miles away expresses its concerns by breaking wind.

We should've intervened and swiftly held genuine elections.Remember that we did the same in the NEast in SL thanks to the IPKF sending the LTTE into hiding.The Madivian tadpole has realised that the Indian establishment..upto now, has no stomach for intervening and continues to insult and humiliate us.There will come another crisis/opportunity for us where we will have to intervene to prevent the state from being swallowed up lock, stock and barrel by China as it's done so with the atolls in the ICS. But will our establishment have the ghoolies to do do?
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by dinesha »

India pares restriction-free food exports to Maldives amid tension in ties
https://www.business-standard.com/artic ... 688_1.html
At a time when diplomatic tussle between India and Maldives has been making news, New Delhi has slashed the amount of restriction-free exports of essential commodities permitted to the island nation every year.

According to a recent notification, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has cut by half or more the quantities of rice, potatoes, onion and dal that is exported to the island nation free of restrictions.


It also slashed the levels of wheat flour to a bare minimum. Maldives imports all of its food requirements.

Relations between New Delhi and Maldives, India’s long-term ally in the Indian Ocean region, has been souring over the past couple of years as the political leadership in the island nation is veering towards China, which has pumped in significant investments in the tourism and infrastructure sectors.

India had signed one of its earliest trade treaties with Maldives, back in 1981.

Apart from the usual promises of non discriminatory trade and freely convertible currency, the pact is also based on the important premise that on an annual basis New Delhi will decide the quotas for food export to the island nation that will not face any export restriction. The rationale behind this is that India may put certain curbs in case it needs to protect domestic supplies.

Article IX of the agreement specifies that, “The Government of Maldives will furnish to the Government of India a list of essential commodities required by the former in a calendar year by the end of November of the year preceding the one to which the requirement relates.” Subsequently, specified quota allocations for the following calendar year is made by India by the end of December. That depends on “the supply availability and the overall need of the Government of Maldives,” according to the agreement.

It is this specific point that a senior commerce department official has pointed towards, saying that Maldives has not asked for higher quotas in its latest communication to New Delhi. “Such long standing trade policies also have to take into account multi-year changes in trends. We have seen that Maldives imported these commodities solely from us and as a result, our latest calculation is based on the average utilisation of the quotas by Maldives over the past three years,” the official said.

India’s overall exports to Maldives stood at $217 million in 2017-18 as compared to the $197 million in the previous year.

Official statistics also show that quantity-wise, the latest quotas allocated to Maldives are almost as much as the gamut of trade over the past two years. Potato exports stood at 5,589 metric tonnes while onion and rice exports were 10,271 and 23,361 metric tonnes respectively.

Diplomatic heatwave in Indian Ocean

Bilateral diplomatic relations between India and Maldives have taken a beating since February, when Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen declared a state of emergency. While preliminary talks diffused the situation, Yameen has on multiple times told Delhi not to interfere, citing the developments as the country’s internal matter.

Earlier this month, India refused entry to a Maldivian member of Parliament who is a close aide of Yameen, even though he is entitled to visit India as a legislator.

Maldives has also told India to take back two Dhruv advanced light helicopters which had been gifted to the nation back in 2013 along with the 26 Navy personnel who are currently posted in Maldives to maintain and run the machines. Media reports also suggest that the Maldivian government hasn’t renewed over 2,000 work permits of Indian workers and it has not given any reason for doing so. Newspapers in the country have carried advertisements saying Indian workers are not wanted. Over 25,000 Indians work in the island nation.
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by chetak »

Philip wrote:There is no comparison between Putin , immensely popular in Russia with the Maldivian despot who imprisons almost all the opposition leaders, supreme court judges and uses his military to terrorise the locals.All with the blessings of China.We should've intervened when the sh*t hit the fan as we've done so before during the Rajiv era.He saw the danger immediately.Sadly our advisers today and spastics in the MEA piddle in their pants when China thousands of miles away expresses its concerns by breaking wind.

We should've intervened and swiftly held genuine elections.Remember that we did the same in the NEast in SL thanks to the IPKF sending the LTTE into hiding.The Madivian tadpole has realised that the Indian establishment..upto now, has no stomach for intervening and continues to insult and humiliate us.There will come another crisis/opportunity for us where we will have to intervene to prevent the state from being swallowed up lock, stock and barrel by China as it's done so with the atolls in the ICS. But will our establishment have the ghoolies to do do?
Saar,

I understand where you are coming from but the days of cowboy rajiv are long gone. We cannot intervene without causing a huge international scene and ultimately backing off with valid accusations against us of hegemony and also it's attendant repercussions on cashmere.

What we have done is the best we could have, under the circumstances. Our definition of "genuine elections" in Maldives may not be a universal view and so it is good that we stayed clear.

At least, unlike the previous dispensation, we have clearly showed our teeth and are now actively prepared to do damage when we are damaged by the actions of the despot. If his people do not protest his actions against a friendly India, then they must be sanctioned next. Visa and export curbs should follow. Let their imports get costlier.

These islamic fundoos must see that as they have made their bed, so must they lie upon it. It's actually even larger than just the involvement of the hans. Some gulf countries are also instigating him with money and covert support and the Indian ghoolies are only just coming into view.

I am sure that more will follow if Maldives continues on the same perilous path.
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by titash »

Cross-Posting from the CPEC/OBOR Thresd:

Did this get posted? Looks like we've embargoed food to the Maldives??

http://defencebuzz.org/2018/06/india-ac ... 416f7.html

India Acts Tough - Curtails Supply Of Essential Food Items To Maldives
India has turned heat on Maldives, a country shifting its alignment at a fast pace with China. With uncertainty growing in Maldives and President Yameen Abdul Gayoom openly taking anti-India stance, New Delhi has decided to curtail the supply of vegetables - potatoes, onions -- and other essential articles -- rice, flour, eggs, pulses and sugar - to the island nation in the Indian Ocean...
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by anupmisra »

titash wrote:Cross-Posting from the CPEC/OBOR Thresd:

Did this get posted? Looks like we've embargoed food to the Maldives??

http://defencebuzz.org/2018/06/india-ac ... 416f7.html

India Acts Tough - Curtails Supply Of Essential Food Items To Maldives
India has turned heat on Maldives, a country shifting its alignment at a fast pace with China. With uncertainty growing in Maldives and President Yameen Abdul Gayoom openly taking anti-India stance, New Delhi has decided to curtail the supply of vegetables - potatoes, onions -- and other essential articles -- rice, flour, eggs, pulses and sugar - to the island nation in the Indian Ocean...
Bad move in my opinion. It will not affect the powers to be but hit the common folks, who could turn against India.
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by rsingh »

anupmisra wrote:
titash wrote:Cross-Posting from the CPEC/OBOR Thresd:

Did this get posted? Looks like we've embargoed food to the Maldives??

http://defencebuzz.org/2018/06/india-ac ... 416f7.html

India Acts Tough - Curtails Supply Of Essential Food Items To Maldives
India has turned heat on Maldives, a country shifting its alignment at a fast pace with China. With uncertainty growing in Maldives and President Yameen Abdul Gayoom openly taking anti-India stance, New Delhi has decided to curtail the supply of vegetables - potatoes, onions -- and other essential articles -- rice, flour, eggs, pulses and sugar - to the island nation in the Indian Ocean...
Bad move in my opinion. It will not affect the powers to be but hit the common folks, who could turn against India.
why bad move? Let the common man to revolt. Let them import these items from other countries, let them pay international price. Let them feel the heat.
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by Neshant »

He's going to rig the elections.

Place UN observers in there to ensure elections do not get rigged.

Opposition should be demanding that.

-------

Maldives opposition unites to challenge Abdulla Yameen

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/wor ... 806891.cms
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by dinesha »

India’s choppers to fly back from Maldives in 10 days as ties grow cold
https://theprint.in/diplomacy/indias-ch ... old/78834/
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by chetak »

anupmisra wrote:
titash wrote:Cross-Posting from the CPEC/OBOR Thresd:

Did this get posted? Looks like we've embargoed food to the Maldives??

http://defencebuzz.org/2018/06/india-ac ... 416f7.html

India Acts Tough - Curtails Supply Of Essential Food Items To Maldives
India has turned heat on Maldives, a country shifting its alignment at a fast pace with China. With uncertainty growing in Maldives and President Yameen Abdul Gayoom openly taking anti-India stance, New Delhi has decided to curtail the supply of vegetables - potatoes, onions -- and other essential articles -- rice, flour, eggs, pulses and sugar - to the island nation in the Indian Ocean...
Bad move in my opinion. It will not affect the powers to be but hit the common folks, who could turn against India.
This is exactly where we make the mistake, the very same mistake over and over again.

It is like the visa mata continuously issuing medical visas on twitter to the unwashed pakis even when the paki army is killing Indian soldiers on the border. The jehadi paki abdul and ayesha think that we are scared of the paki atmi taqat and so we dare not refuse them the visas.

There is no difference between the outlook of the unwashed jehadi paki abdul and ayesha and the jehadi paki army. One wears the uniform and the other does not, and apart from that their jehadi mindsets are exactly the same and their opinion regarding kafir India and the kafir Hindu is identical.

There is nothing like a grateful paki, never was and never will be. They will all sweet talk you here in India so that you give them free treatment, that done, and taqiya successful, they will all go back and spit in your Hindu face.

If the GoI has decided to f(uk the maldives because it has turned against us, the clusterf(uk includes the people.

No one escapes. A point is being made to the entire country and not just to the el presidente only.

The chinese look after the el presidente and you look after the maldivian common folks??

why don't we let the chinese look after the maldivian common folks too??

Because the maldives is never going to escape the death grip of the hans under any circumstances. It is now completely lost to us.

Aren't there enough "common folks" in India for us and visa mata to look after??

or is it because "common folks" in India don't count?? and the point can only be made if we "look after" paki and maldivian "common folks"??
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by Philip »

The Maldives is nog lost to us.The point ghe GOI is making is ghag wd ard its closest reliable neighbour who can assist in a crisis.China is thousands of miles away and now ghe SLN has taken charge of the sdcurity of H'tota port., alleviating to some extent India's concerns.If you remember, many, many moons ago I suggested this as a possible interim solution to neutralising any PLAN naval/ mil activity there.

It took only 16 hours for Rajiv G to act decisively the last time it was in crisis. The hammer can always be used in future if further demolition oc democracy takes place.
Who thought that Rajapzase would be ousted in SL.The tadpole must study history and the inevitable fall of tyrants.We missed the last opportunity of a cleaning op. Other opportunities will come bot we should bd ready to act immediately and ddcisively.
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by chetak »

Philip wrote:The Maldives is nog lost to us.The point ghe GOI is making is ghag wd ard its closest reliable neighbour who can assist in a crisis.China is thousands of miles away and now ghe SLN has taken charge of the sdcurity of H'tota port., alleviating to some extent India's concerns.If you remember, many, many moons ago I suggested this as a possible interim solution to neutralising any PLAN naval/ mil activity there.

It took only 16 hours for Rajiv G to act decisively the last time it was in crisis. The hammer can always be used in future if further demolition oc democracy takes place.
Who thought that Rajapzase would be ousted in SL.The tadpole must study history and the inevitable fall of tyrants.We missed the last opportunity of a cleaning op. Other opportunities will come bot we should bd ready to act immediately and ddcisively.
Saar,

Chinese military personnel in the guise of construction workers are stationed at strategic locations in the maldives. This complicates matters immensely and also the chinese are legally in the maldives, per international law. Its another matter entirely whether the govt there is a popular one or not.

It will not be a cake walk like it was for rajiv and his cowboy tactics. A shooting war could actually breakout and the repercussions of such foolhardy action by India is too grotesque to contemplate.

rajiv was a nutcase. his macho and dinosaur ways would have got us into deep schitt had he been in the chair today. We have failed to protect our own interests by not looking out for them when we had the chance. The milk is already spilt and we are, as usual, crying over it.

Changing situations dictate changed solutions, the good old "one size fits all" methodology will not work in such a surcharged and volatile geopolitical atmosphere.

Do you think that the chinese will sit idly while billions of dollars of their "investment" goes down the drain?? or to be more clear, flushed down the toilet by India?? "Face" is vital to the chinese and they would have reacted violently to protect it.

Why did we wake up so late and let the situation precipitate itself?? WTF was our MEA and our intelligence doing??

As far as supreme national interests are concerned, we are reactive while the chinese are proactive. There is a world of difference in the two words as well as in the intent and content of our foreign policies.

We are still foolishly talking of aid to maldives in a crisis. What did we gain after the aid we gave last time?? Isn't it high time that we start to think like the chinese about our interests without the hegemony part.

What did we gain from the "aid" we gave to nepal, beediland and srilanka?? mostly at the cost of precious Indian lives??

Look at each of the b@$t@rds today. Do they behave like we aided them??

If India had done to each of them what the chinese have actually done to them today, we would have been pilloried and buggered in the UNGA for criminal extortion and unprincipled economic invasion, and the charge would have been led by the chinese and ably supported by the pakis with all three countries agreeing with them.

and yet none of these buggers have even opened their holes against the chinese economic coercion and military exploitation. The chinese bring fear wherever they arrive. and we bring "aid"?? which is never ever acknowledged by the recipients??

we need to get real and quiclky too.
Last edited by chetak on 05 Jul 2018 17:32, edited 1 time in total.
Philip
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by Philip »

When you have to bite the bullet you have to.Chineses workers whoever.If you're scared of war surrender now.RG was not a nutcase.Op.Cactus was a great success.The failure of prev. regimes to cement our relationship strategically has been the problem, the arrogance of Delhi babudom in the MEA , etc. They neither bothered or kept an eye on developments to nip mischief in the bud.If you think pragmatic China is going to start a shooting war in the IOR where it is at a huge disadvantage and could be hugely militarily embarassed by the IN, think again.

There are several ways to crack the Maldivian coconut. The main ingredient is the will to do it.The rest is mere details.
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by chetak »

Philip wrote:When you have to bite the bullet you have to.Chineses workers whoever.If you're scared of war surrender now.RG was not a nutcase.Op.Cactus was a great success.The failure of prev. regimes to cement our relationship strategically has been the problem, the arrogance of Delhi babudom in the MEA , etc. They neither bothered or kept an eye on developments to nip mischief in the bud.If you think pragmatic China is going to start a shooting war in the IOR where it is at a huge disadvantage and could be hugely militarily embarassed by the IN, think again.

There are several ways to crack the Maldivian coconut. The main ingredient is the will to do it. The rest is mere details.
Well, you agree that the MEA baboo(n)s messed up.

They often poke their unwanted noses into the affairs of every ministry, they aggressively lobby for the post of NSA, claiming that every departmental decision has a foreign policy dimension to it. They particularly poke their vile noses into the affairs of the MoD, dictating tactical and forward enemy facing policies. They lack exposure and are clueless in the art of the realpolitic. They lack the finesse and hardcore exposure of aggressive, hardworking diplomats, someone like the israelis, for example.

Israeli diplomats are multi dimensional in their skill sets as well as capability. State security interests, intelligence inputs and situational awareness is their forte and they use it all in assessing any situation. We are also operating is a similar environment but without the competent people and the training to do so. It matters much even today, who your father or mother was/is in the GoI or in the political arena. A sense of overarching entitlement is often the result of such a grasping and greedy pedigree.

Most of the MEA work is done keeping the FFNGOs and the track thoo circuit in mind because almost all of these guys land up on that circuit, climb the social ladder there and become hard core card carrying members of the wine and caviar circuit, with ISI pakis as their agenda setting friends.

Our earlier servile and fawning gulf policy was run by these clowns who were dutifully "mindful" of minority votebanks, our previous oleaginous, greasy, grovelling, and cringing china policy was again run by these same clowns who bowed and scraped to the hans from the comfort of their airconditioned china desks at the MEA. They are a law unto themselves.

to the best of my knowledge, two very senior foreign service secretaries from the MEA have been fired publicly. No other ministry has suffered such an ignominy. Again, some senior retired members from the MEA, after securing comfortable foreign sinecures for themselves, slyly arranged during cushy postings abroad, just prior to retirement spew venom against Modi on social media.

The MEA baboo(n)s should have kept a careful watch on the happenings in the maldives and forewarned the GoI on the shady happenings there. They failed miserably. The current climate in the maldives is not conducive to military intervention, and that clown of an el presidente has even roped in the pakis to help him out.

The chinese need not necessarily react in the maldives to sort out things, in fact they can well create serious issues for us in arunachal or anywhere along the border or even task the pakis to hit out at us.

It is best for us to keep the powder dry and await a suitable opportunity to prevail. In the meanwhile, let that country feel some pain and blame their el presidente for their troubles. No need for us to suck up to any more momins.

In the meanwhile, we should continue with our aggressive patrolling very close to their international borders.
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by Philip »

I agree abso. reg. the MEA miserables.Many adore the champagne and caviar circuit and compromise for a cushy life and post-retirement post often abroad.Security matters are infra-dig to these specimens.We need more hard core officers from the security/ intel agencies posted abroad in our embassies and consulates.The fraud in Indo- Pak diplomacy going on for decades needs to be exorcised.It is a massive industry that keeps our jokers in clover and the chatterati circuit on a constant high engaged in bi-lateral "interaction", which the Pakis play to perfection.
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Re: Maldives Civil-Military Issues

Post by kvraghav »

We should follow china in this. We should pick a maritime dispute with maldives and intimidate them.
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