Maldives Foreign Minister and its President's special envoy to India, Mohamed Asim visited India.
The visit gains significance amidst the recently strained relationship between India and Maldives.
What was the recent tussle?
Maldives recently signed its Free Trade Agreement with China.
This is Maldives’s first FTA with any country and China’s second FTA with any country in South Asia after Pakistan.
The trade pact would open Maldives to Chinese goods and tourists in unprecedented numbers.
India was certainly concerned with this, due to the possible increased Chinese military presence in the island nation.
The Maldivian President had earlier promised that Maldives would be an integral link in China’s Belt and Road Initiative
Besides, the Maldives government recently suspended three members of a local body.
This was notably on charges of meeting the Indian Ambassador without seeking prior approval.
However, responding to these, India articulated its hope that as a friendly neighbour, Maldives would be sensitive to India’s concerns in keeping with its “India first policy”.
What are the outcomes of the visit?
The visit was aimed at overcoming the “trust deficit” between the two countries and reset the strained relations.
Maldives foreign minister reiterated Maldives' “India first” policy.
The emphasis is an attempt to allay India's concerns over Maldives' growing proximity towards Beijing.
It was conveyed that Maldives would stay sensitive to India’s concerns over peace and security in the Indian Ocean region.
The talks also involved strengthening the bilateral relationship keeping in mind its ‘India first’ policy and our ‘Neighbourhood first’ policy.
What are the implications?
The visit by a foreign minister may have cleared some of the bitterness between the two countries.
However, India can certainly not continue to take its predominant power in South Asia for granted.
It cannot be indifferent to the developments in the smaller neighbours, as they have wider geopolitical ramifications.
Both countries have to learn to deal with each others proximity and acknowledge that there are no alternative but to make amends in ties.
