Despite one “muscular diplomatic” debacle after another, India has been unrelenting in its bullying attitude toward its small and weak neighbors. India is imposing another economic blockade on a third South Asian country, Maldives.
In 1981, India and Maldives mutually agreed on the quantity of supplies of essential commodities to the republic. However, the office of India’s Foreign Trade Directorate General issued a notice on June 20 this year that curtailed 50-94% of the supply of food items. The unilateral curtailment of food supplies runs counter to the spirit of articles VIII and IX of the 1981 agreement. It is yet another economic sanction imposed by India on Maldives in reaction to latter’s growing engagement with China in recent years.
After assuming office in May 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited all of India’s neighbors in South Asian except Maldives. Although his visit to the island republic was scheduled for March 2015, he canceled it unilaterally, and Indian media quoted sources in the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) that his visit was canceled because of Maldivian political turmoil. However, the real reason was Maldives’ increasing rendezvous with China.
A free-trade agreement (FTA) was signed between Maldives and China on December 8, 2017, during Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen’s four-day state visit to China. It was Maldives’ first FTA with any country and China’s second with a South Asian country, after Pakistan. Last December, the Maldivian parliament endorsed the FTA with China, and the pro-Indian opposition boycotted the vote.
In return for China’s backing, Yameen assured China of full support for its ambitious Maritime Silk Road, which is an integral part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
It seems that the power struggle within the domestic political spectrum of Maldives is to some degree between India and China. After the full backing of China, the Maldivian president removed the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Maldives, and suspended three local councilors who had called on the Indian ambassador. Some Indians believe that Maldives would not have dared rebuff India in a manner they never imagined without China’s full backing.
It is important to note why Maldives took these steps. In reality, Maldives was losing patience with Indian snooping in minor domestic politics and Indian ambassadors’ behavior toward its political leaders.
Nepal’s experience
Three years back, Nepal’s Constituent Assembly drafted and finalized a constitution in mid-September 2015, and the date was fixed to promulgate it. The constitution was approved by more than 85% of the assembly members.
Three days before the constitution was proclaimed, India sent its foreign secretary at the time, Subramanya Jaishanker, as the Indian prime minister’s special envoy to Kathmandu to seek postponement of the decree. The foreign minister of Nepal at that time, Narayan Kaji Shrestha, and other leaders disclosed that Jaishanker behaved undiplomatically and insolently and his tone of voice was threatening and obnoxious. However, Nepal’s political leadership politely rejected his proposal, and the constitution was declared on September 20, 2015.
Then India imposed an economic blockade on Nepal that lasted for five months. Some 2,500 people, among them the elderly and children, lost their lives because of pneumonia and asthma triggered by the shortage of fuel. India sent a seven-point agenda to amend the constitution of Nepal and also leaked it to the press. The text of Nepali Madhesis’ demands and India’s officially sent demand had exactly the same wording.
On December 8, 2015, United Nations agencies and their donors issued a joint statement in which they expressed their “deepest concern” over the severity of the shortage of lifesaving drugs, food and other essential supplies throughout Nepal. However, India did not lift the sanction despite the looming humanitarian crisis.
In response to the Indian blockade, Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli made plans to visit Beijing to sign a trade and transit treaty with China in March 2016 that would eventually end the Indian monopoly of Nepal’s access to maritime routes. Then India invited Oli to visit Delhi quickly, and before his visit, it lifted the economic blockade. Indian media and foreign-policy experts accused Nepal of a tilt toward China, but they overlooked the fact that India had long been pushing Nepal toward China. After Nepal signed the trade and transit treaty with China, India started innocuous diplomatic dealings with Nepal.
Bhutan’s experience
This is not the whole story of Indian muscular diplomacy. India curtailed a subsidy for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) between the first and second rounds of Bhutanese general elections in 2013. As a result, the ruling party of Jigme Thinley lost the general election, as India wanted. India resumed the LPG subsidy with little explanation later on. It had removed the LPG subsidy in reaction to Thinley’s meeting with the Chinese leadership without prior consultation with India and wanted his electoral defeat.
Similarly, the fourth king of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, relinquished the throne in 2006 voluntarily to his eldest son after ruling for 34 years. However, some analysts believe that India forced him to abdicate as he wanted to develop independent foreign relations with neighboring countries.
Now, many Bhutanese think that India’s actions were undue meddling in their country’s internal affairs. As a result, during the Doklam standoff between India and China last year, many Bhutanese became anti-India because of the overbearing behavior of New Delhi.
Indian political leaders, its foreign-policy regime, and media should change their mindsets and stop treating neighboring countries as administrative units of New Delhi. India needs to be mindful that these countries are sovereign and the people of these countries are masters of their wishes.
India is losing its traditional allies one after another in its neighborhood because of a myopic policy of “muscular diplomacy.” India always underestimates the sovereignty of its neighbors and overlooks the principles of peaceful coexistence.
India’s neighbors want to develop a warm and hospitable relationship with China, as it is a rule-maker in current global governance and the second-largest economy in the world. India is an unsuccessful South Asian regional player. Therefore, India needs to introspect past blunders and learn lessons from them.
The practical and productive way to conduct diplomacy is gentle persuasion and making offers, keeping the use of force and threats at a bay. “Muscular diplomacy” is obsolete, and continuing its use has instead been pushing India’s neighbors further toward China.
Maldives should not forget which country supplied them drinking water when they didn’t have single drop of it and nepalNe working here in India from hundreds of years ,these countries must know who’s there real friend and who’s enemy
Muhammad Fayyaz ……if so is the case then UK , France, Spain , Germany have more debt owed to their creditors.
https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/external-debt…
You should have also mentioned debt-to-gdp ratio. India ‘s is less than 10% of its GDP, where as that of Pakistan is more than 50% of its GDP.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/External_debt
Now who’s economy is in jeopardy. Do some better homework next time.
And say some thing about neplese context
उत्सव ढुंगाना i think your constitution gave a second class status to the madhesiyas and hence was lop sided from the very beginning. the blockade was done by the dissatisfied madhesias and not by the govt. of India. thousands of trucks were stranded at Indo-Nepal border causing enormous loss to many businessmen in India and Nepal. your Maoists are infatuated with Nepal, India always supported the monarchy …they are weaving a fasle narrative to fan anti-india feelings. you have nothing in common with the chinese who are using money and muscle power to capture the whole of south asia. soon all these countries will regret their loss of independence and freedom of expression .
Do you guys know that you are ones that are too blame. Nepal was always weary of China but India pushed us there is only so much of bullying a country can endure. Like common we just came out of a civil war lost our monarch and finally after 10 freaking years have amulgated our constitution and India comes and blocks the borders because their demands weren’t made? And we we’re going through a freaking earthquake and now it’s Maldives it’s not us mate it’s ur government that is pushing every little south Asian country towards China. Your foreign policy is shit and it is only causing you people harm
Don’t bark. Try to Bite. Our military will teach you a lesson.
Great idea! Paki will have a sling using which they will launch food packets to Maldives ????
Rohit Pandeya Indeed, the author of this piece of sheet is a Nazi China stooge. Everyone knows that it is China that is meddling with internal affairs of every country in the region using money power (corruption) and military arm flexing.
A typical Nazi China stooge masquerading as an "journalist". Everyone knows that it is China that is actively meddling in affairs of every country in Indian ocean region. Using both military and economic power as sledgehammer.
China had a steady growth since mid-90’s interestingly aided by Americans. The economic growth fueled their military might as well as diplomatic heft.
India on other hand got an uphill task now because it had a weak corrupt inefficient government between 2004-2014, that allowed Chinese to establish hegemony.
Ahmed Waheed ….you have read what I wrote, I guess. Have u ever heard of India-Maldives comprehensive trade aggreement 1981. You read it first. Anyway, if security of India is compromised then India will work accordingly. Besides, hope that this Sino-Maldives relation does not take a toll upon you and land you in a situation similar to Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port.
Chinese sponsored false propaganda. What China does in its neighborhood is known to every one and now its using its economic might to influence Small country’s of India’s neighborhood and hatching conspiracy to defame India. China is a expansionist country which offer friendship on face and attack with dagger on back on its neighbouring countries, this fact has a valid and time tested basis of history.
Deepankar Chowdhury what you know about Maldives. India started with not giving Visa to Maldivian students parants and bullying Maldivian who visit india. the India behave will only bring Maldives and China close each other. how Maldives is betrayed to Indial??? by not relying on India?? Thanks god President Yameen is trying to have economic relationships with many countries. otherwise with current situation Maldives will be paralyzed country by now.
This blogger might got some economic benefit or his spouse must be under custody of china. Who may be threatened to rape her, other wise he never write thid bullshit
Jevan Grg, they can only bark at you at their best, none of the neighbours need to attack India, it will disintegrate itself, and from it’s own inner movements against the Barahmans and God forbide what other low and high casts are there at war with each other at the present moment.
Rohit Pandeya, you stabbed in the back as usually Hindus would do that, but we revenged 71 with Kargil, go ask your army officers. Numerous videos of farting Indian army have been aired since India was kicked on it’s ass, but you Hindus are born shameless, so, you never feel ashamed.
Gus Sinha , don’t boast too much of India, we know what happened to your Army in Doklam and what happened to it in Kargil. Stop boasting beyond your capacity otherwise you will burst out.
you guys are funny …..India will the only oasis for chinkistan slaves in the near future.
One person telling Pakistan should help. Pakistan itself can’t save her ass how it can help Maldives.
People like you want everything for free and। if not given then resort to blackmail well gone are those days if these countries want freebies then they need to decide which side they are on
As perceived by the author Chinese r more trustworthy than Indian.. he should be hyoermetropic to view Lankans ordeal…So far as Doklam stand off is concerned handful communist sympathizer who r eager to be in bed wth there ideological partners r present in every Asian countries n some Bhutanese n Mr bhurtel is no exception