{"title":"Contesting China in the Maldives: India’s foreign policy challenge","authors":"H. Thakur","doi":"10.1080/00358533.2023.2244286","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT India’s foreign policy in South Asia has recently suffered revisions following increased Chinese presence in the region. Since 2007 the Maldives has also witnessed a tremendous change in its foreign policy from the ‘India First’ to the ‘India Out’ campaign. Islamic fundamentalism is on the rise in the Maldives and is impacting its foreign policy choices. China has shown great interest in the Maldives. While the Maldives has signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China and recorded enormous Chinese investments in various projects, the Indian ground in the island state has shrunk in the last decade. This article discusses how the Maldives has realised its geostrategic significance in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and how India has succeeded in restoring its traditional clout in Malé after the return of President Ibrahim Solih in 2018. It also discusses the Indian role in the Maldives during the pandemic and the signing of several Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs), maritime security understandings and partnerships with the United States in the Indo-Pacific in view of groupings such as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) and Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF). Also examined is how the sharing of the Free and Open Indo-Pacific vision (FOIP) has brightened the scope of India’s relations with the Maldives.","PeriodicalId":35685,"journal":{"name":"Round Table","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2023-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Round Table","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00358533.2023.2244286","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"Social Sciences","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
ABSTRACT India’s foreign policy in South Asia has recently suffered revisions following increased Chinese presence in the region. Since 2007 the Maldives has also witnessed a tremendous change in its foreign policy from the ‘India First’ to the ‘India Out’ campaign. Islamic fundamentalism is on the rise in the Maldives and is impacting its foreign policy choices. China has shown great interest in the Maldives. While the Maldives has signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China and recorded enormous Chinese investments in various projects, the Indian ground in the island state has shrunk in the last decade. This article discusses how the Maldives has realised its geostrategic significance in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and how India has succeeded in restoring its traditional clout in Malé after the return of President Ibrahim Solih in 2018. It also discusses the Indian role in the Maldives during the pandemic and the signing of several Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs), maritime security understandings and partnerships with the United States in the Indo-Pacific in view of groupings such as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) and Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF). Also examined is how the sharing of the Free and Open Indo-Pacific vision (FOIP) has brightened the scope of India’s relations with the Maldives.
Round TableSocial Sciences-Geography, Planning and Development
CiteScore
1.70
自引率
0.00%
发文量
77
期刊介绍:
Founded in 1910, The Round Table, Britain"s oldest international affairs journal, provides analysis and commentary on all aspects of international affairs. The journal is the major source for coverage of policy issues concerning the contemporary Commonwealth and its role in international affairs, with occasional articles on themes of historical interest. The Round Table has for many years been a repository of informed scholarship, opinion, and judgement regarding both international relations in general, and the Commonwealth in particular, with authorship and readership drawn from the worlds of government, business, finance and academe.