{"id":31433,"date":"2023-06-25T10:26:07","date_gmt":"2023-06-25T10:26:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2"},"modified":"2023-06-25T11:51:04","modified_gmt":"2023-06-25T11:51:04","slug":"mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2","title":{"rendered":"Mauritius and the battle between India and China over the Maldives"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mauritius. <\/strong><\/span>Former president of Maldives, Abdulla Yameen, undergoing a graft trial, has formally thrown his weight behind a campaign to eject the Indian military out of Maldives pitching the pressure on an already embattled pro-India government.<\/p>\n

Maldives is threatening to slip out of India\u2019s orbit once again just as Mauritius is joining an India-led security organization in the region. Here is how Maldivian politics has become a proxy fight between India and China, and why New Delhi looks like it is in trouble.<\/p>\n

On the cusp of the New Year, the Mauritian government took a far-reaching decision: on December 30, the cabinet decided that Mauritius would formally join the Colombo Security Conclave composed of India, Sri Lanka and Maldives to boost regional security.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople don\u2019t realize what a shift this is and that it was announced over the new year, most would have missed it,\u201d says Milan Meetarbhan, Mauritius\u2019 former permanent representative at the UN, \u201csince just after independence, Mauritius has always stuck to a policy of non-alignment and neutrality, but joining this conclave shows a major commitment to a particular foreign policy and a new orientation for Mauritius.<\/p>\n

\u201d The trouble is that Port-Louis seems to be joining the conclave, that looks aimed at countering Beijing\u2019s influence amongst the island-states in the region, just as another one of its original members \u2013 Maldives \u2013 threatens once again to shoot out of New Delhi\u2019s orbit, taking the newly relaunched conclave down with it.<\/p>\n

Maldives\u2019 ex-president Abdulla Yameen, who ruled the country between 2013 and 2018 is currently facing trial for allegedly accepting bribes and for money laundering in is of significance for Maldivian and regional politics given that Yameen has emerged as a trenchant critic of New Delhi\u2019s influence in Maldives and has become the public face of a campaign to eject Indian military from Maldives.<\/p>\n

The problem in Maldives shows just how far India has lost its dominance on the island-state, that it could previously take for granted. After all, India was one of the first states to establish diplomatic relations with Maldives when it became independent in 1965.<\/p>\n

But its influence in Maldives did not grow until the 1970s, when the country had been dependent on Sri Lanka for trade, banking and exporting its dried fish.<\/p>\n

Sensing an opportunity to prise Maldives away from Colombo and turn it into its own orbit, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi visited Maldives in 1975.<\/p>\n

Although the gifts she bore seemed meagre \u2013 $500,000 to set up a fish cannery and help build 19 school buildings \u2013 she was accompanied by the Indian warship that stayed off the Maldivian coast during her visit. New Delhi was now to be Maldives\u2019 security guarantor, propping up Maldivian strongman Maumoon Abdul Gayoom during his long rule from 1978 to 2008.<\/p>\n

The security relationship peaked after 1988 when New Delhi prevented a coup attempt (Operation Cactus) by 80 militants from the Sri Lankan Tamil nationalist group, PLOTE, looking to overthrow the Gayoom government in return for turning Maldives into an operations base against rival Tamil nationalist group (LTTE) and the Buddhist-dominated government in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

Eventually Gayoom fell in 2008 because of the opposition led by the MDP of Mohamed Nasheed who capitalised on Gayoom\u2019s financial mismanagement: in his last year in power alone, Gayoom spent $117 million in infrastructure contracts raking up a budget deficit of $109 million with government debt reaching $445 million \u2013 or 60 percent of GDP, making Maldives one of the most debt-laden countries at the time.<\/p>\n

When Nasheed replaced the Gayoom regime in 2008, the special relationship with India remained unchanged. The trouble was that despite his criticism of Gayoom, Nasheed proved no more capable of resolving Maldivian economic troubles; public sector salaries were increased by $78 million, and the government \u2018borrowed\u2019 $187.5 million from its central bank fuelling inflation.<\/p>\n

India tried to step in and pledged over $100 million in loans to help tide the government over, but by 2012, Nasheed was forced out of office in a \u2018coup\u2019 and protests over his own econo- mic mismanagement and his harsh crackdowns on opposition protests.<\/p>\n

Elections held in 2013 brought Abdulla Yameen and his PPM to power. The Yameen years marked a shift in Maldivian politics and the breaking of the special relationship between India and Maldives. The new Yameen government turned towards Beijing.<\/p>\n

Maldives\u2019 strategic position had put it on the radar of both New Delhi and Beijing: half of India\u2019s foreign trade and 80 percent of its energy imports transit through sea lanes near Maldives, as do China\u2019s oil imports from the Middle East that make up 62 percent of its total imports.<\/p>\n

So, Yameen formally took Maldives into the China\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Beijing began a slew of infrastructure spending in Maldives. \u201cMaldives stood to benefit a lot from the BRI and Chinese investments and that is what sparked the tussle between India and China there,\u201d says Vijay Makhan, former Mauritian foreign secretary and former deputy secretary general of the AU.<\/p>\n

The Yameen government, according to former Mauritian foreign minister Arvin Boolell, \u201cjust did not have the same close relationship with the Indians. Maldives was looking for financing and China was going out of its way to extend financial support. India was left behind. \u201d<\/p>\n

The showpiece of Chinese spending was the China-Maldives friendship bridge to connect the main island of Male\u0301 with the island of Hulhumale\u0301 \u2013 an unfulfilled old campaign promise by Gayoom in 2008 to try to resolve Male\u0301\u2019s overcrowding problem by encouraging residents to move to Hulhumale\u0301, created out of reclaimed land.<\/p>\n

The $200 million bridge was built with $116 million in grants from China, $72 million in loans and the rest paid by the Maldivian government. Another major contract was the expansion of Maldives\u2019 international airport, after the Yameen government tore up a previous contract signed with Indian firm GMR Group.<\/p>\n

Other projects included building a 25-storey apartment complex, a hospital and leasing an uninhabited island \u2013 Feydhoo Finolhu \u2013 to Chinese developers to build tourism infrastructure.<\/p>\n

The budding links between Maldives and China saw Chinese tourism to Maldives reach 306,000 arrivals in 2017, the same year that it signed a free trade agreement with Beijing.<\/p>\n

Just to show how complicated things can get in Mal- dives, this turn towards China was done by Yameen, an estranged brother of former strongman Gayoom, who between 2005 and 2008 held cabinet posts (first as minister of higher education, then of tourism and civil aviation) of the staunchly pro-India Gayoom regime.<\/p>\n

The growing Sino-Maldivian links \u201craised eyebrows in India given its location that only deepened suspicions that it was becoming part of China\u2019s string of pearls around it.<\/p>\n

\u201d argues Makhan. Predictably, the bloom in relations with China meant a downward spiral with India.<\/p>\n

In 2016, the Yameen government demanded that India take back two Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopters given in 2010 and 2015 and based on the Addu Atoll and Hanimaadhoo. The idea was to eject the Indian navy and coast guard personnel based on Maldives to run the helicopters.<\/p>\n

By 2018, as protests swelled against the Yameen government, former president Nasheed called for an Indian military intervention in Maldives, with calls within New Delhi growing for some sort of action against Yameen.<\/p>\n

To dissuade an Indian intervention, China sent 11 warships in the Eastern Indian Ocean with China\u2019s semi-official Global Times warning in an editorial that \u201cif India one-sidedly sends troops to the Maldives, China will take action to stop New Delhi. India should not underestimate China\u2019s opposition to unilateral military intervention\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, it was not the Indian military, but the 2018 elections that dislodged Yameen from power with Ibrahim Solih, handpicked by Nasheed and the MDP as their presidential candidate winning 58 percent of the vote and the MDP winning a parliamentary majority in legislative elections in 2019.<\/p>\n

After his victory, Solih declared that \u201cIndia first policy is my foreign policy\u201d. Boolell argues that \u201cwith the departure of Yameen, the new president once again developed a close relationship with India giving India the upper hand in what India considers to be part of its backyard\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like the teeth of a saw\u201d, insists Makhan, \u201cit\u2019s more a question of which political party holds sway, when the government changes, so does the foreign policy.
\nNew Delhi was quick to try to displace Beijing: it announced a $1.4 billion line of credit and budget support to Maldives and in August 2020 its foreign minister, S.<\/p>\n

Jaishankar, announced that India would help build a $500 million bridge connecting the main island of Male\u0301 with the islands of Villingili, Gulhifahu \u2013 where India is helping build a port \u2013 and Thilafushi, which Male\u0301 wants to turn into an industrial zone.<\/p>\n

Out of the $500 million, $100 million is a grant from India while the remaining $400 million is through loans over 20 years. In October 2020, the US also announced that it would be opening the first ever US embassy in Male\u0301.<\/p>\n

Then in February 2021, India and Maldives announced a deal to build a harbour in Uthuru Thila Falhu (UTF) under a deal that remains under wraps. At the same time, India offered Maldives a $50 million line of credit to buy defence wares from India while offering Mauritius a $100 million line of credit.<\/p>\n

The Solih government has also raised the possibility of scrapping its free trade deal with Beijing. Now what does all this have to do with Mauritius and its signing on to the Colombo Security Conclave? A lot, as it turns out.<\/p>\n

The Colombo conclave \u2013 made up of India, Sri Lanka and Maldives, was originally established in 2011. But it was put into the deep-freeze over the Yameen government\u2019s pro-China tilt in the Maldives.<\/p>\n

Now with the Maldivian government once again returning into New Delhi\u2019s embrace, the conclave has been dusted off and relaunched once again. This time with Mauritius too as a member.<\/p>\n

Other prospective members are Seychelles and Bangladesh, but with Seychelles dumping a deal with India over Assumption Island and Bangladesh already a part of China\u2019s BRI and turning its Chittagong port into part of the project, those prospects don\u2019t look too promising.<\/p>\n

The wisdom of Mauritius in reversing decades of its own foreign policy to pick sides in a Sino-Indian competition and join a security alignment in the form of a conclave is fraught with uncertainties.<\/p>\n

None the least because of the fact that if politics in the Maldives was the reason it was shelved the last time round, it looks like it may soon be heading that way again. New Delhi perceived to be picking favourites in Maldives is now fuelling a series of protests there.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome major players in the region would want to support particular governments on whose support they can count on as part of their own broader vision for the region,\u201d insists Meetarbhan, \u201calternatively they also would not want to see a change in such governments which could tip the balance of power in the region.<\/p>\n

In many countries foreign policies and alliances are the product of a national consensus, this is not the case in Maldives. \u201d The \u2018India out\u2019 campaign, looking to chuck out the 75 Indian military personnel stationed in Maldives to fly the Indian-supplied helicopters and a Dornier plane, started off on social media, but has quickly snowballed into something much bigger.<\/p>\n

Particularly around the secretive UTF deal that organizers of the campaign claim is an Indian effort to establish a permanent military presence within Maldives. The problem for the government is that even sections of the ruling MDP don\u2019t seem immune from that campaign.<\/p>\n

In July 2021, the Solih government was embarrassed after a bomb threat over Twitter against the Indian High Commission in Male\u0301 was discovered to have been made by a member of the ruling party itself. The MDP announced that it had expelled that member.<\/p>\n

Another problem is that the case against former president Yameen seems to be floundering in court; although Yameen still has to face trial for corruption in the leasing of two islands during his administration, in November the courts dismissed a similar case against Yameen and overturned a five-year conviction against him for the leasing of Gaafu Alifu Vodamulla island.<\/p>\n

Since his release Yameen has openly joined in the \u2018India Out\u2019 campaign. And Yameen is still a potent threat for presidential polls coming in 2023: in April 2021, Yameen wrested control of the Male\u0301 City Council away from the MDP in local elections.<\/p>\n

A bad sign, if you keep in mind that no less than 40 percent of Maldives\u2019 total population lives in Male\u0301. The other problem is that the pro-India MDP itself seems to be splitting between Solih and former president Nasheed.<\/p>\n

Under the new government, Nasheed was made speaker of parliament, but he has used that position to push back against Solih, proposing a political reform programme to shift Maldives away from a presidential to a parliamentary system of government \u2013 something opposed by Solih \u2013 and even approaching Yameen for support.<\/p>\n

Nasheed has also announced his intention to become the MDP\u2019s next presidential candidate for the 2023 elections, directly challenging Solih\u2019s hold on the MDP.<\/p>\n

Although the MDP controls 65 out of 87 seats in Maldives\u2019 parliament, out of the MDP contingent, one-third is allied to Nasheed. In August last year, Solih was forced to remind the MDP that he still retained the support of the majority of the MDP\u2019s parliamentarians.<\/p>\n

With the pro-China Yameen once again winning elections in Male\u0301 and transforming the \u2018India Out\u2019 campaign from a social media to a respectable political current and with the pro-India MDP divided between Solih and a Nasheed hungry for a political comeback, things don\u2019t look too rosy for the MDP \u2013 and by extension, New Delhi \u2013 in 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe politics in Maldives is fragile and fractured right now,\u201d says Boolell.<\/p>\n

Should Maldives once again slip out of India\u2019s orbit and swing once again towards Beijing after 2023, forcing New Delhi to mothball the Colombo Conclave once again, it would put Mauritius into a tight diplomatic spot. And that too would mean diminishing diplomatic benefit for Mauritius.<\/p>\n

On its own two most pressing foreign policy questions: Chagos and the ongoing maritime dispute with Maldives over the northern maritime boundary of the Chagos, New Delhi has been less than full-throated in its support for Port Louis.<\/p>\n

On the Chagos because of its growing proximity with the US to balance against China and on the dispute with Maldives for fear of offending either of two pro-India governments in the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf our own core national concerns have not been reciprocated, if China has not threatened Mauritius,\u201d asks Kee Cheong Li Kwong Wing, of the China-Mauritius Friendship Association, \u201cwhy should Mauritius continue to stay out of the BRI and why should it start revising its own traditional foreign policy of non-alignment and being friends with everyone to now start taking sides, drawing lines in the sand and making enemies for no real benefit to its own national interests?\u201d<\/p>\n


\n<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Mauritius<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mauritius. Former president of Maldives, Abdulla Yameen, undergoing a graft trial, has formally thrown his weight behind a campaign to eject the Indian military out of Maldives pitching the pressure on an already embattled pro-India government. Maldives is threatening to slip out of India\u2019s orbit once again just as Mauritius is joining an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":31432,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,11,12],"tags":[233,245,241,366],"class_list":["post-31433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-photo","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-mauritius","tag-mauritius","tag-policy"],"yoast_head":"\nMauritius and the battle between India and China over the Maldives - Mauritius<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former president of Maldives, Abdulla Yameen, undergoing a graft trial, has formally thrown his weight behind a campaign ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mauritius and the battle between India and China over the Maldives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former president of Maldives, Abdulla Yameen, undergoing a graft trial, has formally thrown his weight behind a campaign ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mauritius\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-06-25T10:26:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-06-25T11:51:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2023\/06\/sm_1687677612.88142.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"330\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"12 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Mauritius and the battle between India and China over the Maldives\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-25T10:26:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-25T11:51:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2\"},\"wordCount\":2478,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2023\/06\/sm_1687677612.88142.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Mauritius\",\"Mauritius\",\"policy\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"photo\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2\",\"name\":\"Mauritius and the battle between India and China over the Maldives - Mauritius\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2023\/06\/sm_1687677612.88142.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-25T10:26:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-25T11:51:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Former president of Maldives, Abdulla Yameen, undergoing a graft trial, has formally thrown his weight behind a campaign ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2023\/06\/sm_1687677612.88142.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2023\/06\/sm_1687677612.88142.jpg\",\"width\":620,\"height\":330,\"caption\":\"Mauritius and the battle between India and China over the Maldives\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mauritius and the battle between India and China over the Maldives\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/\",\"name\":\"Mauritius\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mauritius and the battle between India and China over the Maldives - Mauritius","description":"Former president of Maldives, Abdulla Yameen, undergoing a graft trial, has formally thrown his weight behind a campaign ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mauritius and the battle between India and China over the Maldives","og_description":"Former president of Maldives, Abdulla Yameen, undergoing a graft trial, has formally thrown his weight behind a campaign ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2","og_site_name":"Mauritius","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2023-06-25T10:26:07+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-06-25T11:51:04+00:00","og_image":[{"width":620,"height":330,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2023\/06\/sm_1687677612.88142.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"12 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Mauritius and the battle between India and China over the Maldives","datePublished":"2023-06-25T10:26:07+00:00","dateModified":"2023-06-25T11:51:04+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2"},"wordCount":2478,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2023\/06\/sm_1687677612.88142.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-Mauritius","Mauritius","policy"],"articleSection":["all news","photo","policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2","name":"Mauritius and the battle between India and China over the Maldives - Mauritius","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2023\/06\/sm_1687677612.88142.jpg","datePublished":"2023-06-25T10:26:07+00:00","dateModified":"2023-06-25T11:51:04+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Former president of Maldives, Abdulla Yameen, undergoing a graft trial, has formally thrown his weight behind a campaign ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2023\/06\/sm_1687677612.88142.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/sites\/61\/2023\/06\/sm_1687677612.88142.jpg","width":620,"height":330,"caption":"Mauritius and the battle between India and China over the Maldives"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/mauritius-and-the-battle-between-india-and-china-over-the-maldives-2#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mauritius and the battle between India and China over the Maldives"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/","name":"Mauritius","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}