Foreign News

Maldives president visits India amid trouble in tourist paradise

Published

2 years ago

2024/10/6

Priyan

After Mohamed Muizzu (left) came to power, ties between India and the Maldives became strained [BBC]

Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu is expected to seek a bailout during his visit to India this week as the archipelago nation stares at an economic crisis with fears of debt default.

It’s Muizzu’s first official bilateral visit after he was voted to power late last year following a campaign centred on an ‘India out’ policy, with a promise to reduce Delhi’s influence.

Since then, ties have been strained between the countries but experts say the visit indicates that the Maldives can’t afford to ignore its giant neighbour.

The foreign exchange reserves of the Maldives stood at about $440m (£334m) in September, just enough for one-and-a-half months of imports.

Last month, global agency Moody’s downgraded the Maldives’ credit rating, saying that “default risks have risen materially”.

An Indian bailout will bolster the country’s foreign currency reserves.

Before visiting India, Muizzu chose to travel to Turkey and China – his visit to the latter in January was seen as a high-profile diplomatic snub to Delhi as previous Maldivian leaders first visited Delhi after being elected. Around the same time, a controversy erupted in India after three Maldivian officials made derogatory comments about Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“President Muizzu’s visit is a turnaround in several ways,” says Azim Zahir, a Maldives analyst and lecturer at the University of Western Australia.

“Most notably, the visit is a realisation of how dependent the Maldives is on India, a dependency that no other country will find easy to fill,” he says.

Getty Images Maldives president Mohamed Muizzu (left) meets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the — *Muizzu visited India in June to attend Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony [BBC]*

The Maldives consists of about 1,200 coral islands and atolls located in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The archipelago has a population of about 520,000 compared to India’s 1.4 billion.

As a small island nation, the Maldives depends on its giant neighbour India for most of its food, infrastructure building and healthcare.

Delhi and Male have not officially confirmed that a financial package for the Maldives is on the agenda during the visit. But experts believe it will be part of the discussion.

“The key priority of Muizzu’s visit is to secure a financial helpline in the form of grant-in-aid and restructuring debt repayments,” a senior Maldivian editor, who did not want to be identified, told the BBC.

Muizzu also wants a “$400m currency swap deal sought by the Maldives central bank to shore up depleted foreign exchange reserves”, he added.

The ratings agency Moody’s further expressed serious concerns over Male’s financial situation, saying that “(foreign) reserves remain significantly below the government’s external debt service of around $600m in 2025 and over $1bn in 2026”.

The public debt of the Maldives is about $8bn, including about $1.4bn it owes each to China and India.

“Despite Muizzu stating on several occasions that China has given a green signal for deferring debt payments for five years, financial assistance from Beijing has not been forthcoming,” the Maldivian editor said.

With no other country coming to the rescue, it appears that Muizzu is now reaching out to India to mend strained ties.

“It’s about resetting the tone and negative rhetoric from senior officials of Muizzu’s government that has considerably impacted Indian tourist arrivals,” says Zahir.

*Muizzu’s state visit to China in January was perceived as a snub to India [BBC]*

India has long wielded influence over the Maldives, whose strategic position in its backyard allowed it to monitor a crucial part of the Indian Ocean. But Muizzu wanted to change that by moving closer to China.

In January, Muizzu’s administration gave an ultimatum to India to withdraw about 80 troops based in the country. Delhi said they were stationed there to man and operate two rescue and reconnaissance helicopters and a Dornier aircraft it had donated years ago.

In the end, both countries agreed to replace troops with Indian civilian technical staff to operate the aircraft.

A month after assuming charge, Muizzu’s administration also announced that it would not renew a hydrographic survey agreement with India that was signed by the previous government to map the seabed in the Maldivian territorial waters.

Then a row broke out after three of his deputy ministers made controversial comments about Modi, calling him a “clown”, “terrorist” and a “puppet of Israel”.

The remarks set off an uproar and calls to boycott the Maldives on Indian social media. Male said the comments were personal and did not represent the views of the government. The three ministers were suspended from the cabinet.

In what was seen as a thinly-veiled criticism of the reaction on Indian social media, Muizzu said at the time: “We may be small, but that doesn’t give you the licence to bully us.”

*The Maldives depends on India for most of its food, infrastructure building and healthcare [BBC]*

Muizzu’s administration also allowed the port call of a Chinese research ship, Xiang Yang Hong 3, much to Delhi’s displeasure. Some saw it as a mission to collect data which could – at a later date – be used by the Chinese military in submarine operations.

Nevertheless, there was a thaw in bilateral ties after Muizzu attended the swearing-in ceremony of Modi after he was elected for a third consecutive term in June this year.

In August, Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar’s visit also gave a reboot to bilateral ties. “The Maldives is one of the cornerstones of our ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy,” Jaishankar said in Male. “To put it succinctly in the words of my Prime Minister Narendra Modi – for India, neighbourhood is a priority and, in the neighbourhood, Maldives is a priority,” he added.

For Delhi, it’s a welcome change as it recently witnessed the ouster of the India-friendly government of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh and the return of KP Sharma Oli, who used to criticise India’s policies, as the prime minister of Nepal.

Muizzu has realised that antagonising India is not an option and his pragmatism is not without reason. The number of Indian tourists visiting the Maldives dropped by 50,000 in the past year, resulting in an estimated loss of about $150m.

He is aware if he doesn’t get financial support from India, the Maldives could become a paradise lost. That’s why his India visit is crucial.

***[BBC]***

Reuters Chinese President Xi Jinping and Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu attend a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China January 10, 2024 — *Muizzu visited India in June to attend Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony [BBC]*

The Maldives consists of about 1,200 coral islands and atolls located in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The archipelago has a population of about 520,000 compared to India’s 1.4 billion.

As a small island nation, the Maldives depends on its giant neighbour India for most of its food, infrastructure building and healthcare.

Delhi and Male have not officially confirmed that a financial package for the Maldives is on the agenda during the visit. But experts believe it will be part of the discussion.

“The key priority of Muizzu’s visit is to secure a financial helpline in the form of grant-in-aid and restructuring debt repayments,” a senior Maldivian editor, who did not want to be identified, told the BBC.

Muizzu also wants a “$400m currency swap deal sought by the Maldives central bank to shore up depleted foreign exchange reserves”, he added.

The ratings agency Moody’s further expressed serious concerns over Male’s financial situation, saying that “(foreign) reserves remain significantly below the government’s external debt service of around $600m in 2025 and over $1bn in 2026”.

The public debt of the Maldives is about $8bn, including about $1.4bn it owes each to China and India.

“Despite Muizzu stating on several occasions that China has given a green signal for deferring debt payments for five years, financial assistance from Beijing has not been forthcoming,” the Maldivian editor said.

With no other country coming to the rescue, it appears that Muizzu is now reaching out to India to mend strained ties.

“It’s about resetting the tone and negative rhetoric from senior officials of Muizzu’s government that has considerably impacted Indian tourist arrivals,” says Zahir.

*Muizzu’s state visit to China in January was perceived as a snub to India [BBC]*

India has long wielded influence over the Maldives, whose strategic position in its backyard allowed it to monitor a crucial part of the Indian Ocean. But Muizzu wanted to change that by moving closer to China.

In January, Muizzu’s administration gave an ultimatum to India to withdraw about 80 troops based in the country. Delhi said they were stationed there to man and operate two rescue and reconnaissance helicopters and a Dornier aircraft it had donated years ago.

In the end, both countries agreed to replace troops with Indian civilian technical staff to operate the aircraft.

A month after assuming charge, Muizzu’s administration also announced that it would not renew a hydrographic survey agreement with India that was signed by the previous government to map the seabed in the Maldivian territorial waters.

Then a row broke out after three of his deputy ministers made controversial comments about Modi, calling him a “clown”, “terrorist” and a “puppet of Israel”.

The remarks set off an uproar and calls to boycott the Maldives on Indian social media. Male said the comments were personal and did not represent the views of the government. The three ministers were suspended from the cabinet.

In what was seen as a thinly-veiled criticism of the reaction on Indian social media, Muizzu said at the time: “We may be small, but that doesn’t give you the licence to bully us.”

*The Maldives depends on India for most of its food, infrastructure building and healthcare [BBC]*

Muizzu’s administration also allowed the port call of a Chinese research ship, Xiang Yang Hong 3, much to Delhi’s displeasure. Some saw it as a mission to collect data which could – at a later date – be used by the Chinese military in submarine operations.

Nevertheless, there was a thaw in bilateral ties after Muizzu attended the swearing-in ceremony of Modi after he was elected for a third consecutive term in June this year.

In August, Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar’s visit also gave a reboot to bilateral ties. “The Maldives is one of the cornerstones of our ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy,” Jaishankar said in Male. “To put it succinctly in the words of my Prime Minister Narendra Modi – for India, neighbourhood is a priority and, in the neighbourhood, Maldives is a priority,” he added.

For Delhi, it’s a welcome change as it recently witnessed the ouster of the India-friendly government of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh and the return of KP Sharma Oli, who used to criticise India’s policies, as the prime minister of Nepal.

Muizzu has realised that antagonising India is not an option and his pragmatism is not without reason. The number of Indian tourists visiting the Maldives dropped by 50,000 in the past year, resulting in an estimated loss of about $150m.

He is aware if he doesn’t get financial support from India, the Maldives could become a paradise lost. That’s why his India visit is crucial.

***[BBC]***

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Foreign News

‘Time for Ukraine to get new president,’ says Trump after Zelensky condemns diesel deal

Published

17 hours ago

2026/10/11

Priyan

[file pic]

US President Donald Trump has said he thinks “it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president” as he responded to Volodymyr Zelensky’s criticism of the US diesel deal with Russia.

The Ukrainian president warned a new deal to release millions of tonnes of Russian diesel into the US would provide Moscow with money to continue its war against his nation, calling it a gift to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump told reporters outside the White House on Saturday that Zelensky “wants to make problems for the world” by continuing to authorise attacks on Russian refineries.

“He’d better damn well stop,” Trump said, before suggesting Ukraine should “get a new leader who can make a deal”.

Global fuel supplies, including diesel, have been severely limited by the war against Iran launched by the US and Israel, which led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil products usually flows.

Russia – a major producer – and Ukraine have recently intensified their strikes on each other’s energy infrastructure and transport facilities, further straining energy markets.

“We said, ‘you can do whatever you want to Russia, don’t hit the refineries’, because that’s a world problem that’s caused,” Trump continued.

“He could have made many deals and for some reason, he never does.”

Putin’s envoy Kirill Dmitriev described Trump’s intervention as “iconic and historic”, saying that Ukraine “needs leadership actually focused on peace”.

The US president confirmed on Friday that an agreement had been reached with Moscow to suspend sanctions on Russian diesel exports until 7 April.

Zelensky reacted by saying it would allow Moscow to raise new funds to source new military equipment to continue the war.

He also accused Moscow of taking the deal “to mean they can keep fighting, to mean they keep dropping bombs on cities” following deadly new strikes on Zaporizhzhia.

The Ukrainian president spoke to several allies on Saturday to discuss the latest developments, calling for “real decisions to protect lives in Ukraine” and to protect European security.

A Downing Street spokesperson said UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham had spoken to Zelensky and offered his “complete solidarity”.

The pair had agreed Russia should acquiesce to “an immediate energy ceasefire” and end its attacks on shipping in the Black Sea, the spokesperson said, as “this would immediately release more energy and food supplies into the global market”.

News of the US-Russia diesel deal was also met with criticism by EU’s foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas, who echoed Zelensky in saying that suspending sanctions “provides Moscow with more revenues to wage war”, adding: “This is not the time to ease pressure on Russia, and Europe won’t.”

She said European foreign ministers intended to approve the biggest set of sanctions on Russia since the start of its full-scale invasion on Monday.

The deal with Russia is the latest effort from Trump to lower fuel prices in the US ahead of the midterm elections, after months spent grappling with the political consequences of the Iran war.

That conflict, which began in February, has sent the cost of petrol and in particular diesel skyrocketing, which has soured his standing with the American public who have been stung by the higher pump prices and knock-on effects that led to across-the-board inflation.

The average price of diesel is currently $6.28 (£4.74) a gallon, according to the AAA – up from last month’s $5.94 average, and $3.68 last year.

Under the deal, Russia would release an initial 300,000 tonnes of diesel “to the American and global marketplace” followed by an additional 500,000 tonnes in November.

A further million would follow, Trump wrote on Truth Social, and then another 3m tonnes “within a short period of time” – but he noted that this delivery will be “based on the condition of their diesel refineries”.

In the past 10 months, Russia experienced two waves of severe fuel shortages across the country due to Ukrainian drones strikes on its oil refineries.

Diesel production in Russia dropped by an estimated 30%, according to the International Energy Agency.

Trump had already called for new elections in Ukraine last December, saying Ukrainian voters should have the choice to replace Zelensky.

Since the war broke out in 2022 Ukraine has been under martial law, meaning elections are suspended.

[BBC]

Foreign News

Pope says death penalty ‘inadmissible’ as US plans to livestream execution

Published

18 hours ago

2026/10/11

Priyan

[file pic] Pope Leo XIV attends a weekly general audience at St Peter's basilica in The Vatican [Aljazeera]

Pope Leo XIV has declared that the death penalty is “inadmissible” while his home country, the United States, announces plans to livestream an execution by firing squad.

Marking World Day Against the Death Penalty on Saturday, the pope reiterated the Catholic Church’s teaching on capital punishment, writing on X that it was “inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person”.

“The common good can be safeguarded and the requirements of justice can be met without recourse to capital punishment,” his post said.

“Effective systems of detention have been developed that protect citizens while at the same time do not completely deprive those who are guilty of the possibility of redemption,” added the leader of the Catholic Church.

The American Pope’s comments come days after US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Thursday that the firing squad execution of Nidal Malik Hasan on December 3 will be livestreamed.

Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others in a shooting at the Fort Hood military base in 2009.

Pope Leo did not specifically refer to the planned execution, or last month’s botched execution attempt on Christa Pike, who survived two doses of the lethal injection in Tennessee.

But his post came hours after his top deputy, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, told Vatican News that the plan to livestream Hasan’s execution was “unacceptable”.

It was Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, in 2018 who first amended official Catholic teaching to declare capital punishment “inadmissible” in all circumstances.

[Aljazeera]

Foreign News

Trump announces Russian diesel deal amid soaring US fuel prices

Published

2 days ago

2026/10/10

Priyan

Trump's announcement comes a week after a similar deal with G7 countries last week [Aljazeera]

United States President Donald Trump said that Russia has agreed to supply 300,000 tonnes of diesel fuel to global markets amid discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“I have just concluded a highly successful discussion with President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, wherein it was agreed that Russia will immediately supply over 300,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel to the American and Global Marketplace, another 500,000 Tons during the month of November, and 1,000,000 Tons immediately thereafter,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

The president added that Russia would deliver an additional 3 million tonnes of fuel “within a short period of time”. He said that the country would supply 500,000 tonnes in November.

An envoy for Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kirill Dmitriev, praised cooperation between Russia and the United States on diesel and energy in a post on X shortly after.

“Russia-US cooperation on diesel and energy will benefit the world,” Dmitriev wrote on X.

Petrol price pressures

The deal comes despite Ukrainian air strikes, which have taken more than half of the country’s oil refining capacity offline, according to claims made by Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence on Sunday.

The latest announcement comes a week after the G7 countries agreed to release 100 million barrels amid pressure from the White House.

Diesel prices have been elevated in recent months but have started to decline. The average price for a gallon is $6.27 ($1.66 per litre), according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), which tracks daily petrol prices. That’s down $0.10 from this time last week, but up $5.94 from this time one month ago.

[Aljazeera]