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A digest of news and opinion from the Maldives.

Opinion

China, the economic development of Maldives & India.

China, the economic development of Maldives & India.

2 min read

Our current president is ensuring that the foreign relations between Maldives and China remain tight. According to our National Bureau of Statistics, in 2016 more than 1.2m tourists arrived in the Maldives. Among them, 575,176 tourists were from Europe. Furthermore, 572,336 of the tourists were from Asia and among them, China contributed 324,326 tourists to […]

View from 25th floor of IGMH building

Is relocating the rest to Malé the solution to current overcrowding crisis?

5 min read

The original Dhivehi article was published on Mihaaru.com website on 28th November 2017. The following is a loose translation: The definition of overcrowding has now become a big confusion. The government is presently conducting several mega housing projects in the Malé city and is believed to solve the current housing crisis in Malé, by providing […]

A Chinese connection that will prove costly for the Maldives

A Chinese connection that will prove costly for the Maldives

3 min read

The Maldives, an island paradise for tourists, is ruled by a geopolitical serpent. The Maldivian president, Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, has been using Chinese money and Saudi Arabia-backed Islamicism to throttle his country’s democratic polity. The direction he is taking the strategically important Indian Ocean archipelagic state is raising eyebrows in New Delhi. Yameen just […]

Yameen’s visit to Beijing: China trumpets OBOR pact, Maldives hails FTA

Yameen’s visit to Beijing: China trumpets OBOR pact, Maldives hails FTA

6 min read

  China and the Maldives appear to have different perspectives on Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen’s three-day visit to Beijing which will end today, 9 December. Both countries feel that the visit has taken the relationship to a higher level and broadened its scope greatly. But while China has laid stress on the signing of an […]

Negotiations launching of China - Maldives FTA

Island hopping — on Maldives-China FTA

3 min read

The announcement of a free trade agreement between the Maldives and China is another sign of Beijing’s success in its outreach in South Asia. After its push for maritime linkages across the Indian Ocean, including naval exercises and port projects, and for the enhancement of regional connectivity through the Belt and Road Initiative, China seems […]

India shouldn’t be overly nervous about China-Maldives free trade agreement

India shouldn’t be overly nervous about China-Maldives free trade agreement

3 min read

The free trade agreement (FTA) that the Maldives signed last week with China has attracted a lot of attention, with concerns being expressed by Indian media about China’s growing presence in the Indian Ocean. The Maldivian government “allowed for less than one hour for the entire parliamentary process to approve the 1,000-plus page document,” and […]

Third wheel – The Indian Express

Third wheel – The Indian Express

3 min read

Maldives is the only South Asian country that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not visited yet — one scheduled visit in March 2015 was put off. It is a sign of how much India and the Maldives have drifted apart that New Delhi appears to have been blindsided by the Free Trade Area agreement between […]

China gets closer and closer to Maldives

China gets closer and closer to Maldives

5 min read

IMAGE: A scene from Male, the Maldivian capital. The man in the posters is Abdulla Yameen, the Maldives’ president. Photograph: Reuters This week, China and the Maldives signed a Free Trade Agreement that took India by surprise. ‘Agreements signed between the Maldives and China have seriously worried India,’ reports Aditi Phadnis. Mohamed Nasheed, the ousted […]

Maldives - Afghanistan

Afghanistan-Maldives Relations: A Narrative of Dichotomy

19 min read

INTRODUCTION Maldives, a country situated at the south-southwest of India having a population of approx. 3, 92,709, has been making rounds on international front since the sentencing of ex-president Mohammed Nasheed for 13 years on the charges of terrorism. Afghanistan is located in the heart of Asia and it certainly has serious geopolitical interests in […]