Maldives is a 'challenge' with current government 'inclined towards China'

India’s Navy Chief, Admiral Sunil Lanba has said that the Maldives has become a “challenge”, with the current government being “more inclined towards China”.

While China’s growing influence in the archipelago nation has always stressed India, Lanba added that there “is no news at the moment of any listening post in the Maldives”. He highlighted that there are some ‘developments going on there’.

"Maldives is a challenge at the moment. The present government in Maldives is more inclined towards China. The constitution has been tweaked and some islands have been given to the Chinese for development”, he said, adding that Maldives’ Constitution has been “tweaked” so that some islands can be given to China “for development”.

However, Lanba highlighted that the Indian Navy will continue patrolling the Maldives’ Exclusive Economic Zone with the Maldivian government.

Relations between India and Maldives has been sour since it called on the island nation to implement the Supreme Court on 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”.

Back in April, Pakistani Chief of Army Staff, General Qamar Javed Bajwa visited the Maldives. During the visit, the army chief met with a number of senior government officials including President Abdulla Yameen and Defence Minster Adam Shareef.

During his meeting with the Defence Minister, both countries spoke on the possibility of Maldives and Pakistani joint-patrolling SEZ.

India had then said that this was a “redline” for India, and that it “certainly raises the stakes for India”.

Back in February, the Maldivian government declined the Indian navy’s invitation to Milan, the nation’s biannual military exercise, and in April, it declined India’s invite to send a ministerial-level delegation to its Defence Expo.