Assuring India that its strategic interests will not be compromised after the Maldives passed a constitutional amendment to allow foreign ownership of its islands, President Abdullah Yameen in a statement said, “The Maldivian government has given assurances to the Indian government and our neighbouring countries as well to keep the Indian Ocean a demilitarised zone”.
The statement came in the backdrop of India raising concerns over the land law amendment passed by the Maldives. The Maldives’ Vice-President Ahmed Adeeb said, “We don’t want to give any of our neighbours including India any cause for concern. We don’t want to be in a position, when we become a threat to our neighbours.” He also said Maldives was not looking at strategic projects and was looking at projects on the lines of Dubai’s Palm Islands or Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands. He criticised the opposition parties for raising concerns over the law.
According to the parameters laid out for land ownership in the constitutional amendment, it includes more than $1 billion in investments for projects where 70 percent of the land has been reclaimed. China is expected to be the main beneficiary from this legislation as it has been strengthening its relationship with the Maldives and has agreed to build an array of infrastructure projects such as the China-Maldives Friendship Bridge which would connect the capital Male with the airport island Hulhule. Maldives is also key to China’s Maritime Silk Road project. Maldives also receives its largest number of tourists from China along with many Chinese hotels and resorts leasing lands in the Maldives to run their operations.
The Maldives also said it was trying to create a conducive environment for India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit the island nation after he had called of his previous visit due to internal disturbances in the Maldives in March. India cancelled the prime ministerial visit on grounds of arrest of the former Maldivian President Mohammed Nasheed on terrorism charges. India’s Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar is expected to visit the Maldives according to Mr. Adeeb.
The visit by Mr. Jaishankar would hopefully lead to re-energising relations between both countries. India also expects political reconciliation in the Maldives between the ruling establishment and Mr. Nasheed’s opposition parties based on recent developments where the government is said to have reached out to Mr Nasheed’s representatives to find a solution.
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