Why Maldives Important for India | Latest Burning Issues

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BASICS

The Maldives consists of 1192 coral islands grouped in 26 atolls arranged in a north to south directions spread over the Indian Ocean for roughly 90,000 square kilometres (35,000 square miles).
The customs and people of the Maldives were greatly influenced by Indians, Sri Lankans, North Africans, Arabs and Europeans traveling through the trade routes of the Indian Ocean. Maldivians developed their own language and cultural identity

NOTES

The people of the Maldives converted to Islam in 1153 A.D. and today it is a Muslim nation. Visitors must obey local laws and traditions: no alcohol is allowed (outside of the resorts). Local religious standards for beach wear and public dress should be followed.
Not only is the Maldives South Asia’s smallest country, it is the smallest Muslim country of any in the entire world.
Part of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

IMPORTANCE FOR INDIA

Maldives is an important member of SAARC. It is strategically located along major sea lanes in the Indian Ocean.
A significant portion of world trade takes place through the Indian Ocean.
All the energy supplies coming from Gulf nations pass through this area.

UNDERSTANDING GEOPOLITICS

The international system can be divided into SuperPowers, Great-Powers, Regional-Powers, Small-Powers and Micro/Mini-Powers.
The cluster of micro-states are in Caribbean, around Africa (Indian Ocean), Persian Gulf and Pacific Ocean.

NOTES

Micro-states are a post-World War-II phenomenon. In the pre-World War-II period, five European microentities had sought to be recognised as independent states.
They were – Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino, Iceland and Luxemburg. Only the latter was admitted. Post World War-II, Iceland became the first micro-state to be admitted in the UN in 1948.

MICRO – STATE

Like all micro-states, Maldives has small size, narrow resource base, difficult geographical configuration and relative proximity to big neighbours. (like India) India and Maldives signed a comprehensive trade agreement in 1981 While the exports from Maldives to India are of not much significance, the imports from India to the Maldives are quite substantial.

THE GEO-STRATEGIC INTERESTS IN MALDIVES

Maldives lies just South of Lakshadweep Islands, and around major trade routes towards the East Coast of India.
Due to this, India has various Military assets in Maldives to enhance its surveillance capabilities and ability to respond swiftly to threats. This makes Maldives a part of our Security Grid.

MILITARY RELATIONS

India will permanently base two helicopters in the country to enhance its surveillance capabilities and ability to respond swiftly to threats.
Maldives has coastal radars on only two of its 26 atolls. India will help set up radars on all 26 for seamless coverage of approaching vessels and aircraft.
The coastal radar chain in Maldives will be networked with the Indian coastal radar system. India has already undertaken a project to install radars along its entire coastline. The radar chains of the two countries will be interlinked and a central control room in India’s Coastal Command will get a seamless radar picture.

NOTES

Military teams from Maldives will visit the tri-services Andaman Nicobar Command (ANC) to observe how India manages security and surveillance of the critical island chain.
Ekuverin, an annual joint military exercise is held every year since 2009 between India and Maldives. The exercise aims to enhance the interoperability between the Indian Army and Maldives National Defence Force in order to effectively undertake counter-terrorism operations in urban or semiurban environments.

U.S MALDIVES AND DIEGO GARCIA

Diego Garcia is 1,100 miles south of India and about 2,200 miles east of the Africa’s Eastern Coast.
Its 12,000-foot runways can accommodate long range aircraft; including B-52, B-1, and B-2 bombers which can operate as far North as Afghanistan or as far Northeast as the South China Sea and Taiwan.
GAR is host for U.S. maritime prepositioning vessels, combat support vessels, communications facilities, fuel stores, and has the port and airport facilities to accommodate large vessels or combat aircraft.

THE PERFECT DISTANCE

Most importantly, DGAR is far enough away from China’s coast—and its artificial islands in the South China Sea—and presumably out of range of China’s HQ-9 surface-to-air missiles and YJ-12 supersonic antiship missiles that would otherwise threaten U.S. ships and aircraft operating in the Asia-Pacific region.