Why the small but strategically important country of the Maldives is forging closer ties with India.

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India and Maldives have reset ties that plummeted as the Maldivian president leaned toward China after taking office a year ago. But his outreach to India during a visit to New Delhi comes amid an economic downturn in his tiny country. VOA’s Anjana Pasricha explains why.

This friendly handshake in New Delhi comes nearly a year after Maldives President Mohammed Muizzu pledged to reduce India’s influence in the archipelago. Now, Maldives is looking to reset ties.

“India is a key partner in the socio-economic and infrastructure development of the Maldives and has stood by the Maldives during our times of need.”

Muizzu’s tiny country is facing an economic downturn and the looming possibility of debt distress as foreign exchange reserves dip.

India agreed to a financial support package that includes a $400-million currency swap agreement. New Delhi will also build a new port in Maldives and begin talks on a free trade agreement.

"To give a strategic direction to our bilateral ties, we have adopted a comprehensive economic and maritime security partnership vision.”

Muizzu’s visit signals a turnaround in ties with India that plummeted after he took a pro-China stance.

“Once President Muizzu did realize that things are not going to work out by antagonizing India and in particular, the support he might need from a growing economic power like India, in the vicinity, the calculus would have shifted…. that is why we have gradually seen anti-India voices being marginalized in the Muizzu administration.”

Earlier this year, Muizzu asked about 80 Indian troops to leave the country. His administration signed a military assistance agreement with Beijing raising fears in New Delhi about China’s growing presence in the Indian Ocean.

Resetting ties with Maldives will help India at a time when it faces a challenge with neighbors such as Bangladesh, where former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, India’s close ally, was ousted in August after student-led protests.

Although small, Maldives is a strategically important country that sits along vital trade routes in the Indian Ocean.

Anjana Pasricha, VOA News, New Delhi.

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