In Relief to India, Maldives May Scrap Ocean Deal with China

An agreement China signed with the Maldives to build an observatory in the Indian Ocean is likely to be scrapped, as India’s relations with its maritime neighbour enter a purple patch following the exit of former Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen.

Top local government sources in Male told TOI that the agreement Yameen signed with China in 2017, which raised a security alarm in India, is “not on the table”. Titled ‘Protocol on Establishment of Joint Ocean Observation Station’, the agreement was meant to allow China to construct an observatory at Makunudhoo, the westernmost atoll of the Maldives in the north.

The finalisation of the agreement had set off concerns in India that it would allow China a vantage point of an important Indian Ocean shipping route through which many merchant and other ships pass. It would also be located uncomfortably close to Indian waters.

Then foreign secretary S Jaishankar had discussed the issue with then Maldivian envoy Ahmed Mohamed. The envoy had clarified that China was only looking to build a meteorological ocean observation centre. The Yameen government never made the agreement public and following a controversy, after TOI first reported the issue on February 26 last year, China clarified that the observatory was not meant for any military purpose.

During his recent visit, PM Narendra Modi in a significant message to the Maldives, which is said to owe more than half of its external debt to China, said that India’s developmental partnership was meant to empower others, not weaken them by increasing their dependence on India.

Source:TNN

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