‘Don’t view the Maldives from lens of sphere of influence,’ Chinese media said today days after reports suggested that the island nation wants India to withdraw the choppers and personnel posted there.
‘As an independent sovereign country, the island republic (Maldives) increasingly desires to rid itself of excessive Indian influence and maximize its interests by developing diplomatic ties with all major powers,’ an editorial in the state-run Global Times said.
‘The Maldives doesn't want to become a certain country's sphere of influence or take sides between major powers, nor other South Asian and Southeast Asian smaller nations. China opposes a spheres-of-influence order of the kind that dominated the Cold War. The Belt and Road initiative was put forward on this basis,’ the editorial said.
The editorial comes days after a Reuters report quoted the Maldives' ambassador in India, Ahmed Mohamed, who said that that two military helicopters provided by India were mainly used for medical evacuations but were no longer required as the islands had built up enough resources of its own.
"They were very useful in the past but with the development of adequate infrastructure, facilities and resources we are now in a position to handle medical evacuations on our own," he said.
The Maldives, 400 km (250 miles) to the southwest of India, is close to the world's busiest shipping lanes, between China and the Middle East.
Along with the helicopters, India had stationed around 50 military personnel, including pilots and maintenance crew, and their visas had expired. But New Delhi has not yet withdrawn them from the island chain.
China, which opened an embassy in the Maldives in 2011, has rapidly built ties with the tropical island chain as part of its Belt and Road Initiative. It says it is opposed to any country interfering in the internal affairs of the Maldives.
Providing helicopters and patrol boats and satellite assistance to countries such as the Maldives, Mauritius and the Seychelles has been part of India's naval diplomacy to retain influence in the Indian Ocean.
But in recent years China has moved in, building ports and roads backed by loans.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "pm-modi-abdulla-yameen")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}