‘India has been a constant pillar of support,’ says Maldives’ top politician Abdulla Shahid

Maldives’ top politician Abdulla Shahid has termed India as a ‘constant pillar’ ‘support for his country and ‘international 911’ for being the first responder to any crisis. His comments come ahead of PM Narendra Modi’s visit to the Maldives to attend the Independence Day celebrations where he is the ‘guest of honour’. Speaking to WION’s Sidhant Sibal from Malé, President of Maldivian Democratic Party, Abdulla Shahid said that his country is “blessed that we have a neighbour that is 5th largest economy, has over 6% growth rate, and a $ 4 trillion economy...Maldives need to tap into this economy.”

Maldivian Democratic Party is the key opposition part of the country. Abdulla Shahid in the past has been the President of United Nations General Assembly, and foreign minister of Maldives. On India being the voice of the Global South, Shahid said, “PM Modi is a world leader sympathetic to the global south, and understands the challenges of the global south.” PM Modi has been to Maldives in 2019 last as part of his first foreign visit in his 2nd term. Full interview

Sidhant Sibal: How do you see the upcoming visit of PM Modi to Maldives?

Abdulla Shahid: We are delighted that the Prime Minister is visiting us, especially on this very special occasion of our 60th anniversary of independence. The Prime Minister's visit is of great significance. It goes actually beyond symbolism because of the recent diplomatic strain that has been developed between our two countries to have the Prime Minister visit us on our Independence Day and be the guest of honor during the Independence Day celebrations, showcases very clearly that the relationship between our two countries go beyond petty political narrative. It is good that the current government has finally recognized that the relationship between our two countries is a true friendship. It has been flourishing for the last six decades, and that we can put the political narratives that have been used during the last elections behind us and look forward to making sure that we do not go back to that difficult era. We should recognize that this visit is a new beginning. Point where Maldivian politicians and political parties realize and recognize that we should not be using our development partners in neighbouring countries as punching bags for political convenience. This is a truly, truly momentous occasion for the Maldives.

Sidhant Sibal: India has been constant in terms of supporting Maldives, whether it's the COVID crisis, whether it's the infrastructure development in your country, whether it is the capacity building as well. So if you can briefly give an overview, given the fact that this is something that both governments have seen happening.

Abdulla Shahid: Our relationship dates back to 6 decades. We are celebrating the 60th anniversary of independence also. This year, we are celebrating 60 years of diplomatic relations between our two countries. In the last 60 years, India has been a constant pillar of support in our development activities. First and foremost, of course, the human resource development, capacity building that has taken place in the Maldives with the generous assistance of India, can never be overstated. It has been a huge, huge contribution by India. When we look at the infrastructure projects, the currently ongoing projects, like the Greater Malé Connectivity Project, the defense building, the UTF Coast Guard Harbour, the Hanimaadhoo International Airport, the Addu development projects, the list goes on and on. These projects are continuing irrespective of change of government, because the Indian government and Indian people see not in terms of colour of the party that is in government in the Maldives. True friendship is based between the peoples of these two countries, and we are indeed grateful. I'm also delighted that some of the projects that we started during our time in government are going to be inaugurated during the Prime Minister's visit, like the defence building and the Hanimaadhoo airport and many, many other smaller projects of community development assistance that have been ongoing between our two countries.

Sidhant Sibal: How important has been Indian tourism for Maldives?

Abdulla Shahid: We are blessed that we have as our neighbour, the fifth largest economy in the world, the country which has over 60% growth rate, a country which is reaching $4 trillion US in its GDP, a huge, huge economy. Maldives needs to tap into this economy. And of course, the reason why our government, the previous government, decided to work with India, develop Hanimaadhoo airport so that we could be able to integrate our economies. Hanimaadhoo International Airport is going to be just about one hour from major cities in the south, including Mumbai and Chennai, Bangalore and other major cities. This would boost the tourism industry, as we have never seen before, because of the large number of tourists that have travelled. You are right that during COVID-19 pandemic, when External Affairs Minister Dr Jaishankar visited the Maldives, I met him, and we both agreed that for the Maldives to recover from the downturn, only way we could develop is to move into a bubble tourism arrangement, and that greatly benefit. There was a point you would recall Siddhant, a point where we had more Bollywood stars in the Maldives than in India, which gave great publicity to the good projects, the beauty that we have in the Maldives. It was most unfortunate that two Junior ministers picked a completely unnecessary fight with India, which greatly hurt our industry. We should be able to put that behind now. President Muizzu's recognition publicly by inviting Prime Ministers to grace the celebrations of Independence Day shows that President Muizzu has now realized that there is a true friend in India. The friendship between our two countries goes beyond political convenience, and I am confident that the Prime Minister's visit will give a much-needed boost to our tourism industry.

Sidhant Sibal: And how do you see the cooperation in the defence sector?

Abdulla Shahid: Defence cooperation dates back decades. We have a great foundation on defence cooperation for mutual benefit. India and Maldives share the Indian Ocean, and peace and security in the Indian Ocean is necessary for the Maldives, if Maldives is going to prosper. In India we find a strong partner who is ready to assist us in case of emergency, in case of dealing with non-state actors that flourish in the open ocean. These are the kind of situations where Maldives and India have partnered and greatly benefited. We are also conducting joint exercises, and we have been working on this, as I said, since the early 90s. The annual joint exercises provide both our forces to be ready, for instance, of emergency. Human resource development in the field of defence and also intelligence sharing has provided Maldives and India to deter any elements that might want to take advantage of our geographic location. Delighted that the current Maldives government has decided to go ahead with all the previous agreements that have been signed. They have now realized that the narrative that they have pushed, the narrative of hate that they have pushed, was wrong. My request, and what I would urge the current government to do, is not to go back to that era where they have purposely or unknowingly hurt this very special relationship between our two countries.

Sidhant Sibal: How do you see India as the voice of the global south?

Abdulla Shahid: I have had the great pleasure and privilege of meeting Prime Minister Modi on many occasions, and in him, I've seen a leader, a world leader who is sympathetic to the global South, who understands the challenges of the Global South, and is providing every opportunity that is available under his leadership to promote and showcase the global south. For example, when India had the opportunity to chair the G20 Summit, India had that magnanimity of inviting leaders from the global south and be part of the whole process. No other country so far has given that opportunity to the global south. So the global south appreciates Indian leadership. We in the Maldives appreciate Prime Minister Modi's leadership in giving this opportunity to all countries, especially the smaller, more vulnerable countries in the global south.

Sidhant Sibal: And I am sure, you will have a meeting with PM Modi..

Abdulla Shahid: Well, I'm looking forward to meeting, and I'm very grateful for that opportunity.

Sidhant Sibal: If you can talk about the economic situation in your country and also, India's support for it..

Abdulla Shahid: We are very grateful for continuous Indian assistance to successive governments to alleviate the challenges that we face in the economic field. As you know, Siddhant Maldives has a very narrow economic base, the fluctuations in the international market, on energy prices, the ongoing wars around the world, these all have a terrible, terrible impact on small economies, and we suffer the most. We need genuine friendship from our development partners, and in India, we have obviously seen that India is a true friend who is always ready. And as I always say, whenever we have an emergency, and dial international 911, India has always been our first responder.