The Maldivian Government Officially Requests India to Withdraw Its Troops from Maldives, How Should This Matter Be Viewed? What Will the Follow-up Be Like?

Indian Overseas Military Bases

India Faces Major Setback

We all know that the United States claims to be the global hegemon, with military presence in over 140 countries and 374 overseas military bases. However, there is another country that is also a small-scale hegemon. This country is India, which is not only a minor global hegemon, but also the undisputed hegemon of South Asia. Whenever it comes to neighboring countries, India either invades and annexes them, or deploys its military to showcase its dominance.

The United States considers the entire Americas as its backyard and the four major oceans as its inland waters. India, on the other hand, considers the entire South Asia as its sphere of influence and the Indian Ocean as its inland waters. Unfortunately, for the countries in the Indian Ocean region, India is like a giant, with absolute power to crush them.

So far, India has deployed its military in as many as six countries, and established dozens of military bases.
The first one is Bhutan, a country surrounded on three sides by India. India controls Bhutan through various infrastructure projects and regards it as its own backyard. It has built more than ten military bases and stationed around 3,000 soldiers there.

The second one is Tajikistan. This place was originally Russia’s “backyard,” but India saw an opportunity during the chaos of post-Soviet era in the 1990s and managed to establish a foothold. It built an air base called Farkhor, located 130 kilometers from the capital of Tajikistan, and deployed its air force and MiG-29 fighter jets there.
Why did India choose this place?
Because it is close to Pakistan, especially to the region of Kashmir. With a military base here, India can effectively deter Pakistan.
Moreover, Tajikistan is a neighboring country of China, so this is a win-win situation for India.

The third one is Seychelles. Seychelles is an island country in the Indian Ocean, located in eastern Africa, with a population of only 100,000. However, it is strategically located at the center of Europe, Asia, and Africa, making it a crucial transportation hub between Asia and Africa.
India has had its eye on this place for a long time. Since 2015, India has leased the Assumption Island in Seychelles and built a naval base there.
In 2018, India signed a 20-year agreement with Seychelles. According to the agreement, India will build a naval base on Assumption Island in Seychelles, further expanding its influence in the Indian Ocean.

The fourth country is Madagascar. Madagascar is an African island country on the coast of the Indian Ocean, with a population of 28 million and extreme poverty.
India has been providing assistance to Madagascar and, based on this condition, has established coastal surveillance radar stations and military bases in the northern region of Madagascar as important outposts for monitoring the Indian Ocean.

The fifth country is Maldives. Maldives is an archipelago nation in South Asia, consisting of thousands of islands, with a population of just a few hundred thousand.
India has been exerting its influence in the Maldives by providing aid, building military facilities, and signing various bilateral agreements with Maldives, including assistance and loans totaling more than 1 billion US dollars.
Currently, India has built multiple military bases in the Maldives, deployed troops, and established large coastal surveillance radars.

The sixth country is Mauritius. Mauritius is also an African island country in the Indian Ocean. India has also established military bases and large coastal surveillance radar stations in Mauritius to control the Indian Ocean.

The presence of Indian troops in the above-mentioned countries forms an important strategic layout.
In 2019, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs decided to incorporate the diplomatic affairs of Sri Lanka, Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles, Madagascar, Comoros, and French La Réunion into the unified management of the Indian Ocean region.
Since then, India has appointed a defense attaché at its embassy in Madagascar.
These countries constitute crucial shipping routes in the Indian Ocean, and India has been aggressively exerting its influence by deploying troops in all of them.

Regarding this decision, India Times openly claimed that the reason behind it was that “China has been continuously expanding its influence in the Western Indian Ocean region,” and India hopes to consolidate its geopolitical influence in the region through this move. Except for Tajikistan and Bhutan, the Indian troops in the other four regions can effectively attack our shipping routes to Africa and the Middle East. India hopes to control all the shipping routes in the Indian Ocean by leveraging the island countries in the Indian Ocean and treating the entire Indian Ocean as its sphere of influence.

However, there has been a recent incident where Maldives publicly demanded the expulsion of Indian troops and stated that this was the unanimous decision of the Maldivian people. In fact, a few years ago, when former Maldivian President Yameen was in power, he repeatedly expressed caution against India’s influence in the Maldives and its ambitions, and expressed the desire to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative. As a result, after saying such things a few more times, he was inexplicably sent to prison on money laundering charges. The current President Solih, on the other hand, has been much more obedient and dare not mention anything about the Indian troops. He has repeatedly stated his welcome to India’s investment and protection in the Maldives… During this period of five years, India has been relentlessly building new military bases in the Maldives and has taken on the construction of a new naval port, shipyard, new Ministry of Defense building, new training base, and new police academy.

Now, the new President, Muzhu, has been elected and is demanding the immediate withdrawal of Indian troops… Unless India finds some reasons to send the new president, Muzhu, to prison again, it can be said that the expulsion of Indian troops from the Maldives has become a foregone conclusion. India’s long-term strategic layout, hoping to control the entire Indian Ocean, will suffer a major setback.

As a result, China has become the scapegoat, and India immediately released news claiming that the reason why the Maldives wants Indian troops to leave is that they want to allow Chinese troops in. In response to this, Muzhu had to explain. He explicitly stated to Agence France-Presse and other media outlets that he did not want to replace Indian troops with Chinese troops to disrupt the regional balance. Muzhu said that the Maldives intends to cooperate closely with all countries and will not take sides in the geopolitical competition among major powers.

The Maldives asks, “What does our demand for the withdrawal of Indian troops have to do with China?” India says, “If you don’t want us, why do you want to allow China to station troops?” The Maldives says, “We just don’t want your troops, it’s not news that you control and annex neighboring small countries.” India says, “If you don’t want us to control, do you want to give control to China?” The Maldives says, “We don’t want any country to control us.” India says, “Did China make you say this?” The Maldives says… “Get the hell out of here!"

What can we say about this? We once said that the United States is not cunning, it is just assertive. And for countries other than China, it’s not that they don’t want to be assertive, they just don’t have the ability to be assertive. If India were more powerful than the United States, it would be even more assertive and would annex all the neighboring small countries without leaving a single one. Just like Vietnam, why doesn’t Vietnam hate the United States? Vietnam drove France and the United States away on one hand, and invaded Cambodia and Laos on the other, wanting to become the dominant power in Indochina. So Vietnam doesn’t hold a grudge against the United States. Vietnam believes that a strong state will naturally assert dominance, but Vietnam is wary of China because China brings peace to the world, and Vietnam does not dare to easily wage war against neighboring countries.

So, it’s the same saying: “Barbarians fear power but lack virtues; they have small rituals but lack great principles." China has always emphasized that we will not take the path of becoming a hegemon, and the world should also break free from the logic of Western hegemony. Unfortunately, other countries outside of China do not understand this.

It’s like Australia. Australia is frantically expanding its navy, spreading the China threat theory every day. Apart from being instigated by the United States, one of the crucial reasons is that they really believe that a stronger China will threaten their security. China says, “I am developing my own country, what does it have to do with you? Who do you think you are?” Australia says, “If you become stronger, won’t you come and attack me and grab my things? Would you be so stupid not to?” China says, “Why would I attack you? Are you crazy or something?” Australia says, “Which country in the world, once it becomes stronger, doesn’t become hegemonic? Who are you fooling?” Australia says, “If you don’t attack me today, you will attack me tomorrow; if you don’t attack me tomorrow, you will attack me the day after tomorrow; if you don’t attack me the day after tomorrow, you will attack me in 100 years…

Is Australia right? Australia says, “Just look at India. They are poor, with 560 million malnourished people, but they frequently bully neighboring countries and constantly seek to expand their influence. They are building overseas military bases everywhere. This is the normal logic.” We have to understand that the logic in this world is based on strength and status. The world operates on a jungle-like order. At least, that is the current reality.

In 1405, a hundred years before the European Age of Discovery, China embarked on global exploration during the Ming Dynasty. Unfortunately, we did not understand the logic of strength and status at that time. At that time, if we talk about national strength, Ming China could easily overpower the whole of Europe. The tonnage and carrying capacity of its ships during the exploration period were more than ten times that of Columbus' era. In terms of navigation technology, Zheng He used compass navigation combined with celestial navigation techniques such as over-the-horizon sailing and star navigation. This was the most advanced navigation technology at that time. The Ming fleet had a crew of more than 27,000, more than 20 times that of Columbus. The naval capabilities of Europe and Ming China were as different as night and day when they sailed to Southeast Asia. However, wherever they went, they engaged in civilized trade, fair exchanges with the local people, and conducted mutually beneficial transactions.

In the historical records of Ming Dynasty and the writings of countries that they visited, there is no record of any acts of plundering. Despite having the absolute power, China maintained orderly and civilized trade and engaged in equal and mutual exchanges with the locals wherever they went.

Since the Han Dynasty, China has not understood the logic of strength and status. It has been actively and voluntarily developing diplomatic relations with vassal states, adopting a “non-invasive” attitude towards neighboring countries, and attempting to build a hierarchical and harmonious world order. During Zheng He’s voyages, every indigenous country that appeared in the records, whether in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, or Africa, could be completely overwhelmed by Ming China in terms of military force, arms, and technology. However, Ming China engaged in civilized and fair trade, exchanging goods with local indigenous peoples.

In the history of Ming Dynasty, there is no record of any plundering behavior during the voyages. This is despite China having the absolute power.
In fact, starting from the Ming Dynasty, China has been seeking to pass on its technology, art, and specialty products along the Silk Road, making outstanding contributions to the development of civilization in the world.
But after about a hundred years from the Ming Dynasty’s great voyages, the Western world’s Age of Discovery began. This was the starting point for the West’s pursuit of strength and status.

The Western civilization, without trade, resorts to looting and plundering.
The Spanish obtained over two-thirds of the world’s gold and silver, but what did they give in return? All they did was massacre the Native Americans in South America and annihilate the Aztec empire…
Britain colonized India, acquiring the largest raw material and commodity market, resulting in the death of tens of millions of Indians over hundreds of years due to famine.
Belgium colonized the Congo, reducing all Congolese to slaves. The population of Congo decreased by over 5 million due to brutalities, and rubber tappers would have their hands and feet amputated if they didn’t work hard enough…
Th

The Cost of the Indian Army in the Maldives and Future Hopes

First of all, the Maldives has to bear half of the cost of the Indian Army stationed in the country, which is a burden.

Secondly, in order to join the Maritime Silk Road and become a service area for Asian fleets sailing to Africa, the Maldives should strive to create an open and free operating environment in order to serve ships from various countries.

In pursuit of a brighter future, the Maldives has requested the withdrawal of Indian troops. Despite the significant power gap and the high degree of control exerted by India over the Maldives, human nature tends to yearn for a better life.

Political Chaos in India

No destiny like Great Britain’s

But a disease like Great Britain’s

The biggest obstacle to India’s development

Is not poverty, division, or low education levels

But the lack of core ideals in India’s political elite

They are like headless flies

Jumping around in a mess

Between socialism, imperialism, theocracy, and nationalism.

Suffering in Life

Having the illness of the powerful, but not the prosperity of the powerful.

The Pursuit of Freedom by the People of Maldives

We cannot let the whims of the Maldivian people destroy democracy in Maldives.

Jai Hind!

Global superpowers interested in the Maldives

India is a major regional power known for its habit of intervening in the affairs of smaller countries in the region. However, there are now two global superpowers, and a small country can escape the control of regional powers as long as it obtains the support of one of these two superpowers. Fortunately, there are superpowers interested in the Maldives, giving the new president confidence.

The Dilemma of South Asia

Too far from heaven, too close to India.

In the entire South Asian region, except for Pakistan, which can resist India’s erosion with the support of major powers, other countries can only display their own abilities. Nepal relies on its geographical advantages and the diplomatic means of switching allegiance. Bhutan is already considered as India’s colony. Bangladesh relies on turning itself into a population bomb.

As for the Maldives, there is no hope. Even if India truly withdraws its military personnel, it would be useless. Its political and economic system is still tightly controlled by India, it’s a hopeless situation.

Small countries like the Maldives can only rely on the modern international political system established by major powers after World War II to survive. The United Nations, as the representative of this system, has been increasingly inconsistent with the strength of major powers in the new century and has shown signs of decline. India, as a neighbor of the Maldives, ranks high in overall strength in the world and is also very greedy by nature. The Maldives truly suffer.