Washington: Highlighting that Maldives is aware of its responsibilities in maintaining a “free, peaceful and stable Indian Ocean”, the country's envoy to the US said that it occupies a very strategic position and considers all the big powers in the Indo-Pacific as important partners.
Speaking after a Washington visit by Maldives Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer this week, Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed said his country occupies a very strategic position and is aware of its responsibilities in maintaining a "free, peaceful and stable Indian Ocean".
“We deal with other countries in a sincere way and therefore we expect other countries to be dealing with the Maldives sincerely... I don’t think there are any hidden agendas in this at all,” he said. “We would not do anything that would harm or create problems in the region... because as a small country very much reliant on tourism, peace, and stability, not only in the Indian Ocean but also globally, is important to us.”
Speaking about its ties with India, China, and the US, he replied, “We consider all of them are partners... all these countries are of importance to us and they help us". Zameer’s Washington visit came two months after Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu’s party won a landslide in parliamentary elections. Muizzu has pivoted ties towards China and away from India, a key US regional partner in the Indo-Pacific region.
In May, India said it had replaced 80 soldiers in Maldives with civilians after a demand by Muizzu as part of his ‘India out’ campaign. Ghafoor said relations with India are “quite good” and improving, with a visit expected by India’s external relations minister soon. He added that he was not privy to details of defense agreements the Maldives has signed with China, but they should not be a cause of concern to others, as per a Reuters report.
The island nation's closer engagement with China recently saw it allowing a Chinese research vessel to dock at its port, despite India's concerns that information gathered by such ships can be used by Beijing's military for deployment in New Delhi's backyard.
