{"id":35198,"date":"2023-05-04T04:22:12","date_gmt":"2023-05-03T22:52:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=35198"},"modified":"2025-04-20T22:35:07","modified_gmt":"2025-04-20T17:05:07","slug":"indian-defence-ministers-visit-to-maldives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/indian-defence-ministers-visit-to-maldives\/","title":{"rendered":"Indian Defence Minister\u2019s visit to Maldives"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Why in news?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>India &#8211; Maldives Bilateral relation<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>India\u2019s interest in Maldives<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>India and Maldives Bilateral relation: In Brief<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Challenges in the relationship between India and Maldives<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>News Summary: Indian Defence Minister\u2019s visit to Maldives<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Key highlights of the visit of Indian Defence Minister\u2019s visit to Maldives<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why in news?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh paid a 3-day official visit to Maldives.<\/li>\n<li>As a special gesture, reflecting the warmth in the bilateral relations, the Defence Minister of Maldives broke protocol and personally received the Raksha Mantri upon arrival at the airport.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>India &#8211; Maldives Bilateral relation<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h2><strong>India\u2019s interest in Maldives<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Strategic Importance<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Maldives is barely 70 nautical miles away from Minicoy and 300 nautical miles away from India\u2019s West coast.<\/li>\n<li>It is situated at the hub of commercial sea\u2010lanes running through Indian Ocean (particularly the 8\u00b0 N and 1 \u00bd\u00b0 N channels).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Geo-political interest<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Securing sea lanes of communication;<\/li>\n<li>Fighting piracy and sea-based terrorism;<\/li>\n<li>Making Indian Ocean a conflict free zone and restoring its status as sea of tranquil;<\/li>\n<li>Exploring blue economy and Enhancing trade<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>China Angle<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>China\u2019s strategic footprint in India\u2019s neighbourhood has increased.<\/li>\n<li>The Maldives has emerged as an important &#8216;pearl&#8217; in China\u2019s \u201cString of Pearls\u201d construct in South Asia.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Internal security angle: Radicalisation<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>In the past, the number of Maldivians drawn towards terrorist groups like the Islamic State (IS) had increased.<\/li>\n<li>Political instability and socio-economic uncertainty are further fuelling the rise of Islamist radicalism in the island nation.<\/li>\n<li>This gives rise to the possibility of remote Maldivian islands being used as a launch pad for terror attacks against India and Indian interests.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>India and Maldives Bilateral relation: In Brief<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Political Relation<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>PM Modi, on his first overseas visit after taking oath of the office for his second term, visited Maldives in June 2019.<\/li>\n<li>During this visit, he addressed a session of the newly constituted People\u2019s Majlis.<\/li>\n<li>He was only the second foreign Head of State or Government to address the People\u2019s Majlis in its 86-year history.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Trade and economic cooperation<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>India-Maldives bilateral trade stood at crossed the USD 300 million mark for the first time in 2021, reaching an impressive USD 323.9 million.\n<ul>\n<li>Bilateral trade is heavily favoured towards India.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><u>India emerged as Maldives\u2019 3rd largest trade partner in 2021<\/u>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cooperation during the COVID -19 Pandemic<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Operation Sanjeevani<\/strong> \u2013 Under this operation, India, in April 2020, supplied 6.2 tonnes of essential medicines to Maldives.<\/li>\n<li>Indian Government has also evacuated nine Maldives nationals from Wuhan, China, where the COVID-19 was first identified.<\/li>\n<li>In January 2021, India delivered 1 lakh doses of Made in India COVID-19 Vaccines to Maldives under the <strong>\u201cVaccine Maitri\u201d<\/strong> initiative.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Security &amp; defence cooperation<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>India provides the largest number of training opportunities for Maldivian National Defence Force (MNDF), meeting around 70% of their defence training requirements.<\/li>\n<li>Key projects in the Defence Sector includes Composite Training Centre for MNDF, Coastal Radar System (CRS) and construction of new Ministry of Defence Headquarters.<\/li>\n<li>India and the Maldives signed a pact for <u>the development of the coast guard facility in 2021<\/u> when New Delhi also extended a <strong>$50 million line of credit to the Maldives for defence projects<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Challenges in the relationship between India and Maldives<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>India out campaign<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The campaign is backed by the country\u2019s Opposition leader Abdulla Yameen.<\/li>\n<li>It aims to fuel more hatred by creating scepticism for India\u2019s investments in Maldives, the defence partnerships between the two, and India\u2019s net-security provisions.<\/li>\n<li>It accuses the government of Maldives of allowing Indian boots on the ground, and thereby compromising the sovereignty of the island nation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Radicalisation in Maldives<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The Maldives has become the <strong>country with the highest rate of foreign fighters per capita<\/strong> in the world.<\/li>\n<li>This has been revealed by a 2020 report by the European Foundation for South Asian Studies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Presence of China<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>China is increasing its presence in Indian Ocean region.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>News Summary<\/strong>: <strong>Indian Defence Minister\u2019s visit to Maldives<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Defence Minister of India visited Male on the invitation of his Maldivian Counterpart Defence Minister Ms Mariya Didi.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Key highlights of the visit of Indian Defence Minister\u2019s visit to Maldives<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Launched construction of a harbour for the Coast Guard of the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF)<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The foundation stone for the Coast Guard \u2018<strong>Ekatha Harbour\u2019<\/strong> was laid by Defence Minister and his Maldivian counterpart.<\/li>\n<li>The foundation stone was laid at Sifavaru in Uthuru Thila Falhu (UTF) atoll, where India is assisting in construction of a naval dockyard.\n<ul>\n<li>The UTF Harbour Project is among the biggest Indian grant-in-aid projects in Maldives.<\/li>\n<li>The coast guard facility is expected to end the practice of the Maldives sending its vessels abroad for maintenance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Handed over a Fast Patrol Vessel and a Landing Craft Assault ship to the MNDF<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>During this visit, Indian Defence Minister handed over a Fast Patrol Vessel and a Landing Craft Assault ship to the Maldives National Defence Forces (MNDF).<\/li>\n<li>The Fast Patrol Vessel, capable of coastal and offshore surveillance at high speeds, was commissioned as MNDF Coast Guard ship Huravee.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Highlighted India\u2019s strong defence cooperation with Maldives<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Indian Defence Minister asserted that the ties emanate from the twin policies of \u2018<strong>Neighbourhood First\u2019<\/strong> and <strong>\u2018SAGAR\u2019 (Security and Growth for All in the Region).<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q1)<\/strong> <strong>What is the geographical location of Maldives?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The Maldives is a South Asian Island country located in the Indian Ocean, southwest of Sri Lanka and India. It is composed of a double chain of twenty-six atolls, oriented north-south, that lie between Minicoy Island (the southernmost part of Lakshadweep, India) and the Chagos Archipelago. The country&#8217;s capital and largest city is Mal\u00e9, located on the southern edge of North Mal\u00e9 Atoll.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q2) What is \u2018SAGAR\u2019 (Security and Growth for All in the Region)?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>SAGAR&#8217; (Security and Growth for All in the Region) is a foreign policy doctrine of the Indian government that was announced by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015. The doctrine aims to strengthen India&#8217;s relationships and cooperation with the countries of the Indian Ocean region, particularly in the areas of security, economic development, and cultural ties.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/rajnath-maldives-minister-launch-delhi-assisted-harbour-construction-8590246\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Rajnath, Maldives minister launch Delhi-assisted harbour construction<\/u><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/hci.gov.in\/male\/?17555?000\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Indian High Commission in Male<\/u><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/pib.gov.in\/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1921563\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>PIB<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Maldives is situated at the hub of commercial sea\u2010lanes running through Indian Ocean.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":35199,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-35198","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35198\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}