Maldives Civil-Military Issues

[SriKumar]

all this is old hat, motherhood and apple pie stuff.... govt should do their job etc. Maldives they did get some 'help' from India .... in 1988. Saved their country, in fact. Time for same old same old 'if they do that, what can we do only''....is over. Things are different now.... more critical.

[jpremnath]

Yup, 1988..thats 30 years ago..What did we do for them after? Lend an occasional helicopter or Petrol vessel here and there...Those are peanuts as aid by any measure.
We could ignore countries like Vietnam, Mauritius, et al because them going to the Chinese dont affect us that much. Nepal, Sri Lanka and Maldives are strategically important in terms of our own security but we practically ignored them till now.

[anupmisra]

We could ignore countries like Vietnam, Mauritius, et al because them going to the Chinese dont affect us that much.

I would respectfully disagree with you on the above statement.

It is not always the power or influence you hold over your immediate neighbors (which, of course is important), it is more about the amount of influence you hold over your enemy's immediate neighbors. That's the hallmark of great diplomacy. That's the chankian way. Think China vis a vis its eternal enemy, India. The power China holds over India's neighbors is what bugs India. Now reverse the roles and think of Vietnam, Japan, Philippines, S. Korea and Mongolia vis a vis China.

[jpremnath]

Sorry, I should have been clearer..What I meant to say was compared to our immediate neighbours, countries like Vietnam are too far away from us to give an advantage to China. Definitely we would prefer them to be on our side in the long run. But considering our limited economic power, it would be more prudent on winning back our immediate neighbours first. Which as we can all see; is what Modi is doing now. I can see the invisible hands of our security establishment in two major political events in our neighbourhood. Wickramisnghe coming back and Yameen getting the surprise of his life...

[Chinmay]

Interesting interview with the Maldivian Defence Minister

Q: To put those rumours or reports to rest, what can the Indian side gain? Can they train there? Use it for relief, rescue, humanitarian missions? What exactly does the Indian side do?
A: You mean the radar system? The radar system is more useful for us because the Indians have technology through their satellites, they can see everything. We visited the fusion centre and we saw all the ships around. So they don’t necessarily need it. It’s us who need it. We spend so much petrol, time, managing our people, searching for ships that have gone missing. But if have the radar system in place, we can easily spot it and go to the spot. Now we’re spending so much of tax-payers’ money, but there are some people who just want to talk for the sake of saying something—saying that is sovereignty and things like this. We know very well—If the Indians really wanted to occupy Maldives—they’ve never had the intention, but if they do, you know I don’t know how we can stop it. Your Air Force, your Navy, your infantry—there’s nothing we can do. This is just being practical:if they wanted it they can do it. But it’s not that. They’re there to assist us, to help us and be good neighbours. We both have the same interests. We both want the Indian Ocean to be a military-free zone where there is peace, stability in the region. We, Sri Lanka and India want it. So, we have similar interests and because of that we’re able to maintain this very close relationship which carries on to the mutual benefit of these two countries.

[Vips]

Work resumes full steam on Maldives coastal radars.

After an initial stumble following political uncertainty in the Maldives, work on setting up a coastal surveillance radar chain in the island nation has resumed full steam, with technical teams from India finishing installation work to get the system operational.

The radar chain—which will link up with similar systems in India, Sri Lanka, Mauritius and Seychelles—will provide a comprehensive live feed of ship movements in the Indian Ocean Region that can be used by friendly navies.

Sources have told ET that seven out of the 10 radars that had to be set up are now being fitted with the latest systems that can relay location information, videos and images live to a central command unit. While the civil work on the seven radars had been completed, the political turmoil before the change of government in November 2018 had held up operationalisation of the chain.

Three other radars had been functional but could only relay AIS (automatic identification system) data and are currently being upgraded by teams from Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), the sources said. Once complete, these can be integrated into the 600-crore Coastal Surveillance Radar System (CSRS) project.


As part of the plan to increase maritime domain awareness in the wake of the 26/11 Mumbai attack, coastal surveillance radars have been set up in Sri Lanka (6), Mauritius (8) and Seychelles (1). India also set up an Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) in December that will share real-time maritime information with friendly nations in the region.

In the future, officers from Indian Ocean littoral will be invited for permanent deployment at the Gurgaonbased centre which India believes will help reduce illegal maritime activities by providing intelligence and the means to enforce the law.

[Rony]

Maldives ex-president sentenced to five years for money laundering

Former Maldives president Abdulla Yameen was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison for money laundering on Thursday - as dozens of his supporters gathered outside the courtroom saying his was innocent.

Yameen, who ran the Maldives with an iron hand for five years, unexpectedly lost an election last year and has since faced investigations over a number of deals sealed during his tenure.

He was accused of receiving $1 million of government money through a private company as part of a deal to lease a number of tropical islands for hotel development - charges he has repeatedly dismissed.

Judge Ali Rasheed, who headed a panel of five judges trying the case, told the criminal court it had been established beyond any reasonable doubt that Yameen had taken money that he knew was embezzled from the state.

“The judges took over 10 days to deliberate on this and this is the unanimous verdict of the five judges,” Rasheed said.

Yameen drew the Indian Ocean island country closer to China during his tenure from 2013-2018. Opposition critics accused him of giving contracts, including a major bridge and an extension to the international airport, to Chinese companies at inflated prices. He denied any wrongdoing.

[drnayar]

The fun continues


https://pulseofdubai.ae/blog/maldives-d ... id-crisis/

Maldives Declares Bankruptcy, Seeks IMF Bailout Amid Strained India Relations; Finance Minister’s Advisor Resigns Amid Crisis

[Garooda]

The fun continues
https://pulseofdubai.ae/blog/maldives-d ... id-crisis/
Maldives Declares Bankruptcy, Seeks IMF Bailout Amid Strained India Relations; Finance Minister’s Advisor Resigns Amid Crisis

Here comes China to the rescue should IMF fail to help address the bankruptcy.

[drnayar]

The fun continues
https://pulseofdubai.ae/blog/maldives-d ... id-crisis/
Maldives Declares Bankruptcy, Seeks IMF Bailout Amid Strained India Relations; Finance Minister’s Advisor Resigns Amid Crisis

Here comes China to the rescue should IMF fail to help address the bankruptcy.

China has muzzi in its pocket they don't care about the country

[A_Gupta]

Maldives is in a debt trap. Like Pakistan it lives beyond its means. Unlike Pakistan it is a small country and so is even more easily bought.