Maldives row: China editorial says Beijing never asked Male to reject New Delhi

As the social media fracas sparked by the disparaging comments about Prime Minister Narendra Modi made by three now-suspended Maldivian ministers snowballed into a diplomatic row, an editorial in China’s state media has said “Beijing has never asked Male to reject New Delhi”.

The editorial was published on Monday (January 8), when Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu landed in Beijing to sign bilateral agreements. The editorial by Global Times said China has always treated the Maldives as an equal partner and respected its sovereignty.

China “respects” Maldives-India ties

“It [China] also respects the friendly and cooperative relationship between the Maldives and India, fully aware of the importance for Male to maintain good relations with New Delhi. Beijing has never asked Male to reject New Delhi because of the conflicts between China and India, nor does it view cooperation between the Maldives and India as unfriendly or a threat,” the editorial said.

The Maldives is India’s key maritime neighbour in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and occupies a special place in its initiatives like ‘SAGAR’ (Security and Growth for All in the Region) and the ‘Neighbourhood First Policy’ of the Modi government.

Strained relationship

However, India-Maldives ties have been strained ever since Mohamed Muizzu took over as President in November 2023. Muizzu, who is seen as pro-China, focused on changing Maldives’s “India first” policy in his election campaign. He has already formally urged India to remove the 77 military personnel stationed in Maldives.

Hours after the Maldives started facing massive backlash from Indians for the derogatory X posts made by its three deputy-ministers, the Maldivian Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying the “opinions are personal and do not represent the views of the Government of Maldives”. Soon after that, the three ministers were suspended.

Call for “open-minded” approach

The editorial also called for an “open-minded” approach towards looking at South Asian issues. “It [China] is also willing to carry out trilateral cooperation between China, India and the Maldives. New Delhi should stay more open-minded, as China’s cooperation with South Asian countries is not a zero-sum game,” the editorial read.

It has been a tradition for Maldivian Presidents to visit India first, considering the island nation’s proximity to India and the wide-ranging bilateral ties between the two countries. However, Muizzu broke tradition by choosing Turkey for his first official overseas visit instead of India.

In China, Mohamed Muizzu and his wife Sajidha Mohamed have visited the Xiamen Free Trade Zone in Fujian province. Muizzu is due to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

(With agency inputs)