Abdulla Yameen, half-brother of former autocratic ruler Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, on Saturday clinched an unexpected victory in the presidential run-off elections by defeating former President Mohamed Nasheed, who had led in two recent aborted polls.
Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom was today sworn in as the 6th President of the Maldives, ending nearly two years of political turmoil that threatened to isolate the country internationally.
'As of now, it may be best for India to insist that Yameen honours the supreme court rulings and ensures that the next election is free and fair,' says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
'If all goes well, Modi will visit the Maldives later this year. But two Indian concerns remain unaddressed: President Yameen's intentions about Mohammad Nasheed and China,' says Rajeev Sharma.
India issued an advisory to its nationals on Monday, asking them not to undertake non-essential travel to the island nation.
Yameen declared the state of emergency on February 5 after the country's top court ordered him to free high-profile dissidents from jail.
China's stand is that relevant parties should find a solution internally.
The avoidable stresses and strains in ties helped in one way. It showed for the entire region how a matured India handled diplomatic relations, especially with a smaller and suspicious neighbour, with practised dignity and patience, unruffled by provocations in word, deed and action, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
India's silence on this week's troubles in the Maldives is puzzling, says Rajeev Sharma.
Would it serve India's interest to go to war with China over the Maldives, asks Aditi Phadnis.
This is Modi's first visit to the Maldives as prime minister. The last visit by an Indian Prime Minister to the Indian Ocean island nation was by Manmohan Singh in 2011.
In his first bilateral meeting with international leaders after assuming charge, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday held talks with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai.
Maldives health minister resigns, appeals for support from international community.
The action against the two journalists came as a privately-owned television station in the Maldives went off the air, citing threats during the country's current state of emergency.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with officials on Monday night soon after taking over.
President Yameen declared the emergency on February 5 after the Supreme Court ordered the release of a group of opposition leaders, who had been convicted in widely criticised trials. Among them was exiled ex-President Mohamed Nasheed. The court said his 2015 trial had been unconstitutional.
'Of course, Maldives is chicken feed for the Indian armed forces. And an intervention in the Maldives may serve the purpose of creating jingoism in an election year.' 'But from the foreign policy perspective, any such move will be a flagrant violation of international law and the UN Charter,' warns Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Agreements signed between the Maldives and China have seriously worried India.'
Nasheed, whose Maldivian Democratic Party functions from Colombo, appealed for India's help.
Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom had a lucky escape while his wife and two others were injured when an explosion ripped through their speedboat as they returned home after performing Haj in Saudi Arabia on Monday.
The Maldives government on Tuesday defended the arrest of former president Mohamed Nasheed.
'An authoritative source in the government tells me that India has emerged as the net security provider of the Maldives,' says Rajeev Sharma.
Democracy in Maldives is at the crossroads. There is need for the international community to put pressure on the incumbent regime in the country, so that it is not able to disrupt elections once again, and the democracy in Maldives could be saved from sinking, says Anand Kumar.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday night hosted a dinner for visiting South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation leaders and Prime Minister Narendra Modi where the guests were treated to a variety of dishes drawn from various parts of the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday held talks with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai during which they discussed ways to enhance cooperation in key areas and the recent attack on the Indian consulate in Herat that the Afghan leader maintains was carried out by Lashkar-e-Toiba.
Gujarati popular dish kela methi nu shaak, mouth-watering chicken chettinad from Tamil Nadu, Punjab's dal makhani and Bengali dish Potol Dorma will be served at a private dinner hosted by President Pranab Mukherjee for visiting foreign dignitaries on Monday.
In this exclusive conversation with Rediff.com contributor Rajeev Sharma, exiled opposition leader Ahmed Naseem explains why the world should care about democracy in Maldives.
"You can change friends but not neighbours," Atal Bihari Vajpayee famously said this 15 years ago.
Voting was held in Maldives on Saturday for the second multi-party presidential elections with long queues of people outside polling stations in this Indian Ocean archipelago, which has seen a series of unsettling political events in the last eighteen months.
Maldives on Tuesday voiced its 'hurt' at Prime Minister Modi not visiting it
New Delhi has reached out to neighbours like seldom before while singling Islamabad for criticism at international forums.
George Joseph
Maldives on Friday affirmed that the controversy-ridden presidential polls set for Saturday will go ahead in order to avert a constitutional crisis.
'Without doubt, General Bajwa has deliberately snubbed India.' 'But why did he do that?' 'The Male leadership is simply fed up with Indian interference,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Now is the time for India, our biggest neighbour and oldest friend, to bring the full array of international policy instruments to bear.'
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