India's attitude to blame for Maldives' demand: China Daily editorial

India has always regarded the Indian Ocean region as its backyard, and, as a result, it has treated the Maldives like it is its colonial overlord, considering the country to be subject to New Delhi's authority, politically, economically and culturally. Not surprisingly, the Maldives does not share that view, and to demonstrate its autonomy it has demanded that India withdraw its military presence from the country.

But with Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu making the demand on Sunday that India must withdraw all troops stationed in his nation by March 15, shortly after concluding a productive visit to China, it has stirred up something of a hornets' nest in India, with some speculating that the demand has come at the urging of Beijing.

New Delhi-based NDTV said in an "explainer" article that "the number of troops — 88 — is too few to be a threat", and intimated that it is an outcome of Beijing wooing Male away from New Delhi so China can have a military presence in the country.

But those making such a claim should note that Muizzu became president vowing to ensure that the country had no foreign military presence on its soil.

They should also look at the recent social media posts by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi showing him enjoying a vacation on India's Lakshadweep Islands, which was widely interpreted as a bid to lure Indian tourists to the islands at the expense of the Maldives' tourism industry.

The timing of the announcement may be related to the fact that Male is not worried about losing Indian tourists by making the demand, as one of the outcomes of his recent state visit to China was his hosts expressing the country's readiness to provide support in areas that the Maldives deems priorities, including strengthening people-to-people exchanges and tourism cooperation.

Indian officials justify the continued presence of the Indian troops, a legacy of the 1980s when it sent troops to help the then Maldivian government thwart an attempted coup, by claiming that they are there as part of the two nations' Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief mechanism.

But the Maldives' dependence on India for humanitarian assistance and essentials such as rice, vegetables and medicines has fueled India's colonialist mentality toward the island country, which in turn has led to the rising wave of "India out" sentiment in the country, which Muizzu rode to victory in the November election. With the country's cooperation with China improving the Maldivian people's livelihoods and that cooperation set to deepen after his visit, it is natural that Muizzu should seek to use it as a leverage to reduce New Delhi's influence so that the country can exercise greater autonomy.