Sushma Swaraj set to visit Maldives as govt rethinks stand

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According to sources, Swaraj will be meeting her Maldivian counterpart Dunya Maumoon on October 10 and will also call on Maldives President Abdullah Yameen. The occasion is the joint commission meeting between the two countries, which was established in 1986.

After Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar visited Maldives in August this year, South Block came around to the thinking that New Delhi needs to engage “constructively” with the Yameen government.

With former Maldives President Mohammed Nasheed in prison and the Opposition party, MDP, not being able to get popular support against the Yameen government, New Delhi has decided to “conduct business” with Male’s incumbent leadership.

The apprehension of China making inroads, especially after the new land law which allows foreign countries to buy islands in Maldives, has made the Indian government take note and “shift gear”, sources said.

While this is likely to invite criticism from Nasheed’s party, India sees this as the “best strategic option” — as the elections in Maldives are not before 2018. The Yameen government is seen as stable at the moment.

In March this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had cancelled his visit over Nasheed’s imprisonment, sending the signal that his government was not happy with the political situation in Maldives.

With the re-setting of the relationship, officials will now work towards a visit by Modi in the coming months. “The PM’s neighbourhood-first policy has to be given priority. And unless India engages with the establishments in the capitals of the neighbouring countries, how does it exercise its leverage,” said a source in the government.

Swaraj is also expected to meet members of political parties across the spectrum and hold talks with them.

Swaraj, sources said, has a good working relationship with Dunya Maumoon. They met recently in New York, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.