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NEW DELHI: Has the current political crisis in the Maldives come as a test for the familiar India-Pakistan rivalry for influence in the region, or is it an opportunity for them to face a potentially serious challenge together? Indian analysts on Wednesday indicated it could be a bit of both.
One view of the abrupt resignation of Mohammed Nasheed as the first democratically elected president of the Maldives on Tuesday was that it had been “guided” by India, in a delicate manoeuvre, amid police-led anti-Nasheed protests, so as to stave off any charge of intervention.
The other view is that New Delhi was wary of involvement and in any case doesn’t see any security risks in the change, a euphemism for perceived political gain for Pakistan or China.
The build-up to the crisis is said to be rooted in sustained protests by Muslim hardliners against Pakistan’s pavilion at the November Saarc summit in the Maldives. The pavilion showcased Pakistan’s pluralist history from Harappa civilisation through Buddhism to the arrival of Islam.
The theme, which could have been only pleased India, attracted protests from former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s Islamist supporters.
According to the Kolkata-based Telegraph, Mr Nasheed quit office “after New Delhi brokered a deal among the Maldivian political parties to save that country’s nascent democracy”.
A former diplomat, who played a crucial role in 1988 when India launched an operation to quell a coup in the Maldives, was quoted as describing Mr Nasheed’s decision “statesmanlike as it has prevented violence”.
The diplomat’s advice? New Delhi should continue watching the developments in the Maldives as “India has an important stake in this relationship”.
“Tossed into this cauldron were manoeuvres by other foreign powers, including China and Saudi Arabia, and resentment over permission for Israeli planes to land in the tourist paradise that has invented ways to get around the strict religious code,” The Telegraph said. “However, there is little yet to suggest that China or Saudi Arabia had any hand in the current upheaval in the Maldives,” it added.
The other view was that India has concerns over the rise of extremist parties, “the increase in the flow of funds from the Gulf, the widening Wahabi influence and a spurt in travel to Pakistan”.
Much like parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Maldives embraced Islam as a young religion that eventually replaced Buddhism as the dominant creed there.
“Stirring the pot continuously were a range of actors,” said The Hindu, in an editorial. They include former president Gayoom’s half-brother, who heads an opposition party, to Islamists, who accused Mr Nasheed of diluting the official religion.
“In the past few weeks, the capital city of Male saw protests by Islamic radicals, who vandalised a mural presented by Pakistan to commemorate the November 2011 Saarc summit as “un-Islamic”, and a Buddha statue gifted by Sri Lanka,” The Hindu said.
The upsurge in Male is expected to be inevitably discussed by the leaders of Pakistan and Sri Lanka when Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse visits Islamabad this week.
It was at the Maldives Saarc summit that Indian and Pakistani prime ministers were last locked in a televised embrace that continues to shape their diplomatic engagement to resolve issues that hinder normal, friendly ties.
