Until recently, India’s engagement with the Maldives had not been on the same level as with other neighbourhood nations. The same could be said of the Maldives’ ties with India. Distance mattered to an extent but that was not all. The exit of the British, followed a little later by the arrival of President Abdul Gayoom on the Maldivian scene meant that there was continuity with change in India-Maldivian relations. The existence of strong institutional mechanisms and greater understanding of bilateral relations at the political level in India, in particular, led to the
strengthening of the relationship.

This relationship remained intact even as Maldives shifted gears to become a multi-party democracy in 2008. The existence of a successful and functioning democracy in India, and the yearning for the same in the Maldives has only identified more areas for mutual cooperation between the two countries. Mohammed Nasheed ‘Anni’, leader of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), as the first democratically-elected President, has only improved bilateral relations. There is vast potential and scope for building on the already existing ties between the two nations. This includes diverse areas such as democratisation initiatives and institutionalisation, education and healthcare, economy and investments, and shared concerns of strategic security.