Harsh diplomatic action against Maldives could alienate citizens from India

The past one year was significantly productive for India’s foreign policy with the India-Asean commemorative summit, the initiative to connect with Central Asia, and a maturing of relations with the US, besides building more balanced ties with China. It was closer home that relations have been a bit rocky, from the discomfort with Sri Lanka over the plight of the Sri Lankan Tamils and the continuing political impasse in Nepal. But the developments in Maldives were the biggest embarrassment for India’s foreign policy establishment.

Relations with other neighbours moved forward, including with Pakistan, when visa rules were eased for some categories of applicants. Ties with Myanmar too received an impetus with prime minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Myanmar and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s visit to Delhi last year. Despite Suu Kyi’s reservations about the Indian government’s efforts at strengthening ties with the erstwhile military regime at the cost of the pro-democracy activists, her visit to New Delhi opened the way for wider engagement with different sections of the Myanmar’s society. In the case of Bangladesh too, the visit of opposition leader Begum Khalida Zia expanded contact with opposition parties.

The political upheaval in Male with the ouster of president Nasheed, eventually led to the cancellation of the biggest Indian project in the Maldives. New Delhi has been seething over these latest developments; questions have even been raised about the level of Indian aid that Maldives receives as budgetary support. In recent weeks, visas have been tightened for Maldives nationals travelling to India, which were earlier being issued gratis for Maldives citizens, though that country charges a fee from Indian travellers. Indian expatriate workers have been facing problems with the government confiscating their visas and passports.

The Indian mission in Male is now strict about issuing visas. Maldives nationals, who used to obtain a free 90-day tourist visa on arrival, have now been advised to apply for appropriate visa in advance if their travel is for any other reason, including for medical purposes, and it may now take up to a week process. While India is within its rights to enforce visa norms, the sudden tightening of procedures has hit the citizens of Maldives who visit India for medical treatment and other purposes. The move is seen as retaliation to the Maldives government cancelling the contract for the new airport.

The GMR project became a political football in Maldives’ political drama; it was one of charges made by the opposition against President Nasheed’s government. While GMR company won the bid for the airport project after an international open tender, the ‘airport development fee’ it charged from travellers that became a bone of contention. A Maldives court struck down the development charge in 2011 (a similar controversy has raged over airport development charges at GMR’s Delhi international airport). The government allowed GMR to deduct the airport fees from its revenue sharing arrangement, but later cancelled the deal when the charge drastically reduced its revenues.

In a tiny country like the Maldives, the question of Indian visas can become a major issue for citizens for whom India is the nearest and cheapest destination for medical treatment and higher studies. A heavy handed move that hurts ordinary travellers is likely to be counterproductive at a time when the country’s polity is going through a bitter political turmoil that is likely to be resolved only when general elections are held and a new elected government is in place.

In 1989, the Indian government was legally well within its right in closing transit points on the India-Nepal border after the lapse of the trade and transit treaty following trade disputes between the two countries. However, the move hit common citizens of Nepal hard, causing enormous economic hardship with rising prices and shortages of fuel and other essential items, resulting in a major public relations disaster for the Indian government, as it was perceived to be an economic blockade of a small landlocked country. New Delhi’s action in Maldives could end up alienating the average citizen in that country.

(The writer is a foreign affairs commentator)