Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Maldives and its coverage by the Indian media seems to have ruffled feathers in China with the state-backed ‘Global Times’ publishing a piece slamming the
“outdated perspective” of Indian media. This comes as Modi’s momentous visit to the Island nation was hailed as “historic” by both Indian and Maldives media.
Global Times, the mouthpiece of the Chinese state, expressed ire at how the Indian media covered Modi’s visit to the Maldives and the apparent U-Turn of the Maldives President Mohammed Muizzu’s who heaped praise on Modi after calling India a bully during his initial days of Presidency.
The report quoted Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, in a bid to assert that the Maldives has not distanced itself from China.
Qian said some Indian media outlets viewed the Maldives' relations with China and India through a geopolitical adversarial lens. “However, the Maldives is a sovereign nation that naturally prioritizes its relationship with neighboring India while actively pursuing a diversified foreign policy which includes strengthening its ties with China and aligning with the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative,” Qian added.
He then went on to slam the “mindset of Indian media”, stating it “reflects an outdated geopolitical adversarial perspective, trapped in a zero-sum game mentality."
Claiming that China’s relations with the Maldives will thrive, the Global Times stated that Muizzu vowed during his January visit that “the Maldives is willing to always be China's closest partner”.
Interestingly, Muizzu was perceived to be pro-China and Beijing had expected his government to align with its policy of widening influence over the Indian Ocean region.
The Maldives reversed its anti-India policy in the subsequent months after facing a fiscal crisis. Though it expected Beijing to step in, China’s support failed to materialise following which the government had to soften its anti-India rhetoric and seek assistance from New Delhi. India then responded positively.
Though the Maldives still went ahead and signed the China-Maldives Free Trade Agreement, observers were concerned that it was a “one-directional” pact that resulted in the potential loss of customs revenue for the country. It was also predicted to increase the island’s dependence on China. The warning bells, was however, the fact that China is currently the Maldives’ biggest external creditor, holding over 42 percent of its external debt.
