- Tuesday, February 25, 2025
An opinion piece in Chinese Global Times accused India of not treating its smaller neighbours with respect.
By: Shubham Ghosh
AMID the row between India and the Maldives over controversial posts made by some now suspended Maldivian ministers, China’s state-owned Global Times came up with a piece that slammed India over many of its media reports on Maldivian president Mohamed Muizzu’s ongoing state visit to China.
Victor Gao, who penned the opinion piece in the Chinese news website, questioned the Indian media’s claims that Muizzu is a pro-China leader and that the Maldives under him are trying to get rid of New Delhi’s influence. He called India as a country with “distorted mentality”.
“India has a distorted mentality. India views itself as the dominant country on the subcontinent of South Asia. However, it should give up any residual dream of controlling the Indian subcontinent. The reality is quite different. Other countries, as well as sharing some common features with India, are also extremely diverse,” Gao, chair professor at Soochow University and vice president of the Center for China and Globalization, Beijing, wrote.
Read: Maldives tourism body apologises over row, calls Indians ‘cherished brothers and sisters’
Speaking on Muizzu’s five-day state visit to China, he said Beijing wants to deal with countries such as the Maldives with full respect and treat them as equal partners irrespective of their size.
Saying both the Maldives and China are important for each other for varying reasons such as power generation, infrastructure, connectivity and tourism and above all, for China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the writer advised India against dominating other nations in the Indian Ocean region.
Read: Amid row with India, Maldives president urges China to send more tourists to his country
“Each of these countries is a very important member of the United Nations. They have their full sovereignty and territorial integrity and they should demand equal treatment rather than being subjugated to another country,” the piece said.
“The Maldives is, relatively speaking, very small in terms of geographical size and population. The country is very fragile in terms of ecological environment, rising sea levels and the need to fight off the consequences of climate change. And it also depends on foreign trade and tourism. Therefore, for the Maldives, to be friends with all and enemy with none should be very much appreciated. The Maldivians want to have peace, develop their economy, promote their tourism and increase their living standards. This is something that all of us need to fully respect.”
It said countries such as India should respect the likes of the Maldives that have a special nature and deal with them with full respect as a sovereign and independent nation. Backing Muizzu’s visit to China, it said that it was up to the island nation to decide which country its new president should visit first.
“This is completely an internal decision for the Maldives, not a decision to be imposed upon the Maldives by any other country,” it said.
The piece also spoke on the stationing of Indian troops in the Maldives, saying it should end as soon as possible. It said the Indian troops were there for a specific reason which has now disappeared and normalcy was restored in the archipelago.
“The Maldives government is fully capable of handling the situation in its own capacity rather than having to ask for intervention by the Indian troops. Therefore, the sooner Indian troops withdraw from Maldives the better,” it said.
Meanwhile, Chinese president Xi Jinping on Wednesday held talks with Muizzu following which the two countries signed 20 key agreements and elevated their bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.
The two heads of state announced the elevation of bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
“20 key agreements were signed today between the Government of the Maldives and the Government of China this afternoon and both the Presidents witnessed the signing ceremony,” the Maldivian president’s office said in a post on X.
(With agency inputs)
