India and Maldives recently decided to expand defense cooperation between them. India is set to install a maritime surveillance system and provide two Coast guard helicopters in the near future. In 2006 it gifted a fast attack craft (INS Tillanchang) to Maldives’ Coast Guard. Defense and security cooperation also involves assistance in defense and police training.
During the India-Maldives Friendship Week in Male, Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony said that “both countries face myriad security challenges especially from the sea and it would be New Delhi’s efforts to help its neighbor in whichever way it can.” He also said that “the scope of the ongoing joint MNDF Marines/Army and the Coast Guard exercises would be enhanced and Hydrographic survey and other joint events including surveillance and co-ordinated patrolling by IN and MNDF CG ships would continue apace. MNDF CG ship Huravee which was transferred to MNDF in 2006, would be provided a three month long refit by the GoI at Naval Dockyard Vizag.”
Maldives, a small island country located to the south of India in the Indian Ocean, is said to be “emerging as an important logistics and intelligence base for India.” The two countries have a long history of ethnic, commercial and cultural relations, and India was amongst the first to recognize Maldives as an independent nation in 1965. It is also committed to helping Maldives’s transition to a democratic government. The recent terrorist attacks on Mumbai in 2008 and increased piracy in the Gulf of Aden require that greater attention be paid to securing sea routes in the Indian Ocean. India would also like to limit Chinese influence in the region. But Maldives is already an Indian stronghold as the island nation has an ‘India first’ policy and trusts India to be its personal “911”. India had earlier provided immediate assistance during the 2006 Tsunami and helped crush the 1988 coup in Maldives.
A few months ago, I wrote about the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. While it appears likely that the war will carry on into the foreseeable future, enough time has passed for us to make an honest assessment of each side’s relative […]
The Ukrainian Army has made dramatic strides in the last few weeks. Ukraine’s tactical commanders have outfoxed their Russian counterparts, and by issuing a feint towards the south the UA has been able to earn substantial gains in the north of their country. The impact of these efforts have been compounded by the steady stream […]
In mid-May the Irish political party, Sinn Féin, won the plurality of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Many American readers might not fully understand the significance of Sinn Féin’s political victory- but rest assured that subjects of the United Kingdom and a wide range of political movements the world over have heard the message […]
The first wave of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has fallen short of Russian autocrat Vladmir Putin’s ambitions. Most analysts deduced that Putin had hoped to achieve a decapitation strike of the Ukrainian government- taking Kiev and replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zolinski with a pro-Kremlin voice. Kiev has been threatened repeatedly through the course of […]
On the weekend of March 26th, the notorious MS-13 gang went on a massive killing spree in El Salvador which left more than 70 people dead by Sunday. Even for a country where powerful gangs hold massive sway, this recent tragedy stands out considering that it was the bloodiest day on record since the civil […]
