Maldives: Tiny islands, big
intrigue By Sudha Ramachandran
BANGALORE - Concerned about China's
growing interest in the Indian Ocean, a body of
water and region that New Delhi considers to be
its own sphere of influence, India is
strengthening its already close military
cooperation with Maldives, a nation of 1,192 tiny,
low-lying coral islands strategically located
about 300 miles off subcontinent's southeast
coast.
India is transferring to Maldives
INS Tillanchang, a 260-ton fast-attack craft
commissioned in 2001, which has a range of 3,600
kilometers and is designed
for quick and covert operations against smugglers,
gun-runners and terrorists. India will also
provide Maldives with funds for training, material
and technical assistance for three years after the
transfer of the vessel.
The ship will be
formally transferred to Maldives in mid-April when
Indian Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee visits
the Maldivian capital, Male. Besides, an Indian
navy survey ship, INS Darshak, will conduct a
hydrographic survey in the waters around Maldives.
Close cooperation between the two
countries is not new. In 1988, in response to the
request of the Maldivian government, India rushed
paratroopers and naval forces to crush a coup
attempt. India's relationship with Maldives has
deepened in the post-coup period. It has provided
Maldives with armored cars and other military
equipment and has trained Maldivian paratroopers
in counter-insurgency operations. Indian navy
vessels patrol along the archipelago's many
coastlines and watch over its sea lanes.
In addition to strengthening Maldives'
internal security, there exists close cooperation
in developing the archipelago's health, civil
aviation, telecommunications and other civilian
sectors. Indian and Maldivian coast guards have
also participated in joint dosti
(friendship) exercises. Moreover, the Indian navy
was at the forefront of massive relief operations
after the 2004 tsunami.
Not everyone in
Maldives is not happy with the growing military
relationship, as some see this as further
consolidating President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom's
grip on power. Maldives, a seemingly serene
tourist paradise, has in recent years been rocked
by street demonstrations opposing Gayoom's
autocratic rule. There is concern that Gayoom will
use the military assistance he gets from India
against his domestic political opponents, whom he
tends to label indiscriminately as "Islamist
terrorists".
So there are plenty of good
reasons for New Delhi to keep a close watch over
its neighbor. Maldives shares ties of religion
with Pakistan (both countries are Sunni Muslim).
India would not want that bond to blossom into a
stronger political-defense relationship or have
other interests inimical to India gain influence
in territory so close to its coastline.
That's why reports of growing ties with
China are of great concern to New Delhi. The visit
of then Chinese premier Zhu Rongji to Male in 2001
immediately prompted rumors that the Chinese were
seeking a base on one of the atolls. According to
these reports, the Chinese managed to persuade the
Maldivian government to grant them a base on
Marao, one of the largest islands of the
archipelago, and that Pakistan had played an
important role in pushing the deal through. The
base was to become operational in 2010.
The deal appeared to have run into trouble
in 2002, but reports of renewed maritime
cooperation on the part of China and Maldives
surfaced again in 2004. Both the Maldivian and
Chinese governments denied the reports and have
since maintained that the deepsea surveys that
were carried out were for environmental
protection, not for military purposes.
China might deny it has plans for a base
in Maldives, but such plans fit a long-standing
pattern. To the west of India lies China's
longtime "all-weather friend" Pakistan. China's
cooperation on missiles and nuclear weapons is
well known and its funding of Pakistan's Gwadar
port will enable the Chinese navy to sit at the
mouth of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through
which passes much of the world's petroleum supply,
as well as provide it access to the Arabian Sea.
To India's east, China has substantial
influence over the military junta in Myanmar. It
is helping modernize several bases along the
Andaman Sea in Hianggyi, Akyab, Kyun and Mergui to
support Chinese submarine operations. Myanmar is
said to have leased a base to the Chinese in the
Coco Islands, which are just a few nautical miles
from India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands. India
believes that Beijing's surveillance facilities
there facilitate its monitoring of India's
missile-testing activity in the eastern state of
Orissa. China also has extensive military
relations with Bangladesh. Dhaka is said to have
offered the Chinese access to Chittagong port.
Given China's known interest in having
bases around the Indian Ocean littoral, a Chinese
base in Maldives would not be surprising. But
while defense experts in India see the Chinese
base in Maldives as motivated by Beijing's
determination to contain and encircle India, it is
possible that Beijing has another motivation for
stringing bases like pearls from the Strait of
Hormuz to Southeast Asia, namely securing energy
supplies to feed its growing economy.
This
strategy is described in a report titled "Energy
Futures in Asia" produced by Booz Allen Hamilton
for the Pentagon. The report draws attention to
the "pearls" in this string such as the Chinese
naval presence at Gwadar in Pakistan, at
Chittagong in Bangladesh, in Myanmar, Cambodia and
Thailand, and in the South China Sea. The base in
Marao, Maldives, could be part of this strategy of
securing the sea lanes through which pass oil
tankers from the Middle East heading for China.
Of course, India has its own designs in
the Indian Ocean. Analysts view India's security
perimeter - its "rightful domain" - as extending
from the Strait of Hormuz to the Strait of
Malacca, from Africa's east coast to the western
shores of Australia. It has been reaching out to
Indian Ocean littorals from Africa and Asia
through joint naval exercises with some countries
and by patrolling sea lanes. Recent reports
suggest that India is planning to set up a
high-tech monitoring station in northern
Madagascar. The package to Maldives is part of
this larger Indian Ocean strategy.
India's
military package might prompt some smiles in the
Gayoom government. But whether it will keep Gayoom
from courting the Chinese remains to be seen.
India just might find itself having to do more
than offering a speed boat to keep the Chinese
away from its southern doorstep.
Sudha Ramachandran is an
independent journalist/researcher based in
Bangalore.
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