S Jaishankar: Answering a question on whether India was being seen as a “bully” in the region, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar made a subtle jab at President Mohamad Muizzu of the Maldives by stating that “big bullies don’t provide $4.5 billion aid” when adjacent countries are in difficulty.
Jaishankar Responds to Muizzu’s Veiled Allusion
Amid a diplomatic spat between the two nations, Jaishankar’s statement followed Muizzu’s January statement, which made a veiled allusion to India, stating that no country had the right to “bully us” despite its small size.
When questioned if New Delhi was seen as a “bully” in the subcontinent and Indian Ocean region, Jaishankar, who was promoting his book “Why Bharat Matters,” emphasised India’s proactive role in sending prompt help to its neighbours during times of crisis, according to news agency ANI.
Examining Changes in India’s Relations with Neighbors
“The big change today in this part of the world is what has happened between India and its neighbours. When you say India is perceived as a big bully, you know, big bullies don’t provide $4.5 billion when the neighbours are in trouble. Big bullies don’t supply vaccines to other countries when Covid-19 is on or make exceptions to their own rules to respond to food demands or fuel demands or fertiliser demands because some war in some other part of the world has complicated their lives,” at the event on Saturday, March 2, Jaishankar said.
Timeline of India-Maldives Tensions
The remarks made by the minister come amidst the diplomatic spat between India and the Maldives, which started in January when three Maldivian ministers were suspended for disparaging Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media after the latter uploaded images of his trip to Lakshadweep and promoted the Union Territory as a vacation spot.
India’s Impact on Neighbors’ Development
“You also have to look today at what has actually changed between India and its neighbours. Certainly, with Bangladesh and Nepal, today you have a power grid. You have roads which didn’t exist a decade ago. You have railways which didn’t exist a decade ago. There is a usage of waterways. Indian businesses use ports of Bangladesh on a national treatment basis,” Jaishankar was quoted by ANI as saying.
Jaishankar Highlights Surge in Trade and Investment
He emphasised that during the past several years, there has been a noticeable increase in trade and investment with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and the Maldives. “Today, at the connectivity (side), just the volume of people is moving up and down. The volume of the trade and the investments which are there, it’s actually a very good story to tell. Not just with Nepal and Bangladesh, with Sri Lanka as well, I would also say even with the Maldives,” the minister said.
Jaishankar Highlights Consistent Partnership
“And (in the case of) Bhutan, I don’t want to miss them out because they have just been consistently strong partners. So, our problem in the neighbourhood, very honestly, is with respect to one country. In diplomacy, you always hold out hopes that, yes, okay, keep at it and who knows one day what the future holds,” he said.
According to Muizzu’s statement on February 5, the first contingent of Indian military personnel would leave the island nation by March 10; the remaining Indian forces, who are now stationed at two aviation bases, will depart by May 10. The goal, according to the president of the Maldives, who is regarded as a pro-China figure, is to take the island nation to the point where there is no longer any foreign military presence there.
