At United Nations, India’s choice between an old promise and a budding friendship

Himanshu

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Dec 3, 2017
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The recasting of the old, more China-centric term Asia-Pacific into the Indo-Pacific (with the blessings of the United States) is by itself an indication of how India may now see the upcoming contest between Maldives and Indonesia for a seat at the old horseshoe.

It is a 10-year-old promise, but it seems as though India may not keep it.

When the United Nations General Assembly votes Friday for five non-permanent seats in the Security Council, countries have to choose between candidates. One of these seats is in the Asia-Pacific group, with two candidates — Maldives and Indonesia.

From at least 2008, India has promised Maldives its support in this election. A joint statement in December 2008, when President Mohamed Nasheed visited New Delhi, said: “…India expressed appreciation to the Maldives side for its support to India’s candidature for a permanent seat in the expanded Security Council and for its candidature to the non-permanent member seat of the UN Security Council for the year 2011-2012. Maldives also thanked India for its support for its candidature to the non-permanent seat of UN Security Council for the year 2019-20.”

Earlier that year, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had “confirmed India’s support to Maldives’ candidature for a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council for the term 2019-2020” in his reply to a letter from then Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom seeking such support, according to a Maldivian government press release.

Nasheed’s abrupt removal in 2013 seemed not to have dented this promise. In a joint statement during President Abdulla Yameen’s 2014 visit, “India reiterated its support for Maldives’ candidature for non-permanent seat of the UN Security Council for… 2019-2020. Maldives also assured India of its support for India’s candidature for the non-permanent seat… for 2021-2022.”

But four years is a long time in international relations. Maldives and India have drifted apart on several issues, mainly on Yameen’s proximity to China. India’s hopes for “regime change” in the country are up in the air. Presidential elections are due in September. In May, the Election Commission declared candidates convicted of criminal charges ineligible, effectively knocking out Nasheed and three other main opposition leaders. The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has endorsed Nasheed’s candidature but, as of now, he remains ineligible to contest. In February, the Supreme Court had reversed Nasheed’s conviction, but Yameen clamped an Emergency, jailed the Chief Justice and another judge, as well as former President Gayoom. The other judges overturned the Supreme Court’s February order.

In a message on the Maldives UNSC website in 2016, Yameen appealed for support from the world for his country’s first-ever bid to enter the UNSC: “The Maldives will take to the Security Council its experience as a norm entrepreneur that helps to shape solutions through consensus… As a small state, we will always listen, and we are aware of when to propose, and where to compromise.”

Not that Yameen has shown his compromising side in the last four months. In April, Maldives rejected a call by the UN Human Rights Council to allow convicted opposition leaders to contest the election.

Despite the recoil by many countries over developments in Maldives since February, Yameen’s government has continued to campaign for the seat. Last month, it established diplomatic ties with Zambia, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea and Congo. Yameen has claimed more powerful “friends”, naming Saudi Arabia, Russia and China for preventing the tabling of the Maldives situation on the formal agenda of the Security Council in February, when it was nearly taken up.

Both Maldives and Indonesia are Islamic nations. Indonesia has been a non-permanent member thrice before, Maldives never. That could have gone in favour of Maldives six months ago, but it is unclear how much this will count now.

As for India’s vote, officials believe that after taking a firm line against Yameen when he declared the Emergency, voting for Maldives would send out wrong signals.

Indonesia, by contrast, is the flavour of the season, especially after last month’s visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during which India gained a firmer footing in a region China dominates. It was Modi’s first visit to the biggest ASEAN country, in terms of both population and economy, and came four months after the ASEAN special summit in Delhi.

Modi’s meetings with President Joko Widodo covered the expanse from defence cooperation to shared cultural links, and led to the signing of several agreements, including the joint development of Sabang Port, 90 km from the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, at the entrance to the Strait of Malacca. The two countries upgraded their strategic partnership to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, and adopted a document called the “Shared Vision on Maritime Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific between India and Indonesia”.

The recasting of the old, more China-centric term Asia-Pacific into the Indo-Pacific (with the blessings of the United States) is by itself an indication of how India may now see the upcoming contest between Maldives and Indonesia for a seat at the old horseshoe.

Maldivian MP denied entry at Chennai airport, days after Maldives returns search-and-rescue helicopters gifted by India
 
India voted against Maldives at UN vote: The Print
  • India voted for Indonesia out of frustration over President Abdulla Yameen’s ‘authoritarian’ administration
  • President Yameen has been establishing much closer ties with China, India’s regional rival
  • The Hindu reported that Indian nationals are being refused work permits into Maldives at the ‘strict directive’ of the President’s Office
India’s news outlet The Print has reported that India voted against Maldives at the vote to pick a member for the United Nation’s Security Council last week.

A government source told The Print that India voted for Indonesia for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council out of frustration over President Abdulla Yameen’s ‘authoritarian’ administration.

Maldives lost the election for the Asia-Pacific seat 144-46 in favor of Indonesia, which has previously served three terms on the UN Security Council.

The Print noted that India had assured of its support when Maldives began vying for a seat at the council as far back as 2008 when Maldives held its first free and fair election, electing Mohamed Nasheed as president.

However, President Yameen has been establishing much closer ties with China, India’s regional rival, even flying to China to sign a Free Trade Agreement with the country in late 2017.

The Hindu reported that Indian nationals are being refused work permits into Maldives at the ‘strict directive’ of the President’s Office.

“But India and its friends in the international community believe that the real reason Yameen wants to downgrade Delhi is because he wants no competition for the Chinese,” reported The Print.

The news outlet also reported that Yameen’s administration is becoming much closer with Pakistan, and that after Pakistani army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa paid a visit to Malé, Islamabad offered a USD 10 million loan to finance the purchase of two Super Mushak aircrafts from Pakistan’s Aeronautical Complex.


Maldives sets deadline for India on taking back helicopters

“Maldives has given India a deadline by the month-end to remove its helicopters,” an official source told The Hindu. The government was discussing possible reactions to the move. Significantly, the meeting came just days after a vote at the U.N. for Security Council seats, where the Maldives claimed India had supported its candidature against that of Indonesia, an election that the Maldives lost nonetheless.

Relations between New Delhi and the Maldives have been frayed since last year, when Maldives rushed through a free trade agreement with China, and plummeted further after President Abdulla Yameen declared an emergency in the country in February.

India had gifted two Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) to Maldives in 2013, of which one was operated by the Indian Coast Guard and the other by the Indian Navy, which were manned by six pilots and a number of maintenance ground staff. In the normal course, Letters of Exchange are renewed for two years at a time, but on this occasion the Yameen government refused to do so and has since made it clear that it would like India to remove them and their crew entirely.

The LoE of the Coast Guard ALH had expired a few months ago, while the Navy ALH is due to expire in June. India has yet to recall either helicopters, in the hope that the matter will be resolved through negotiations.

The controversy had an additional twist last month when visas given to the pilots operating the helicopter expired at the end of May. A defence source said that despite requests, the visas were not renewed immediately, causing some concern for the personnel. “The MEA had to step in to sort the issue and it has now been extended by a month till June 30,” the source said.

Maldives has also not approved an LoE sent by India for a Dornier maritime patrol aircraft that the Maldives had itself requested, but in less tense times.