Maldivian-Pakistani plans to joint patrol EEZ 'stresses' India

The possibility of the Maldives and Pakistan joint patrolling the island nation’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) will make India uneasy, says reports.

The discussion to jointly patrol the Maldivian territory took place in a meeting between Defence Minister Adam Shareef and Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, during his three-day official visit to the country.

The Ministry of National Defence Force (MNDF), in a press release issued in Dhivehi following the meeting on 1st April, noted that the discussions between the minister and general included ‘improving ties and broadening joint efforts to combat terrorism’ as well as to “conduct joint patrols of the Maldives’ exclusive economic zone”.

Noting that this is a “redline” for India, the country’s news outlets noted that this would “certainly raise the stakes for India”.

“Diplomatic sources indicated that India will certainly seek to verify the extent of the discussion on joint patrolling of Maldivian territory,” reported India’s The Wire, adding that if true, “would certainly be a redline for India”.

Noting that India has been “the only country with whom the Maldives has conducted joint patrols of its EEZ,” The Wire noted that “a large portion of the Maldives EEZ is adjacent to Indian territorial waters”. It added that as per an agreement signed between both countries in 2016, India and Maldives were “in the process of setting up a coastal surveillance radar system for real-time surveillance of the EEZ of Maldives”.

General Bajwa arrived in the Maldives last Friday, on the invitation of Defence Chief Major General Ahmed Shiyam, and had met senior government officials, including the defence minister, Foreign Minister Mohamed Asim and called on President Abdulla Yameen.

While he is the highest ranking official to visit the Maldives since the declaration of a state of emergency, which was lifted after 45 days on March 22, India had seen Bajwa’s visit “as a political sign” from Maldives to India, assessing that it “was likely a friendly nudge from a key international supporter of Yameen government, China”.

Relations between India and Maldives has been sour since it called on the island nation to implement the Supreme Court of February 1, which President Yameen had described as an attempted “judicial coup”. India continued the call to implement the “ruling issued by the Supreme Court’s full bench” in a message released by its External Affairs Ministry, welcoming the lift of the state of emergency.

In a statement released on February 22, the Maldivian government accused the Indian authorities of issuing public statements “that ignore facts and ground realities” are not helpful.