Mohammed Muizzu has asked Turkey and China for financial assistance as the Maldives faces an economic crisis, but neither country has shown any interest in helping.
Maldives has not gone bankrupt, unlike what the media would have us believe. However, Male is highly leveraged, with his external debt reaching over USD 4.038 billion and his domestic debt almost reaching the same amount, with a debt catastrophe threatening in 2026. Official estimates for the Maldives, headed by Mohammed Muizzu, show that the country’s total national revenue is USD 5.6 billion.
While Muizzu, who openly opposes India, is pleading with his close friend Xi Jinping and Islamic emirates in the Middle East for debt relief, China’s debt, which is USD 1.3 billion and includes sovereign bonds maturing in 2026, makes up approximately 30% of its external debt. Muizzu requested financial assistance from countries like China and Turkey, but no one seemed willing to help as the island nation struggles with a severe economic crisis.
The Maldivian authorities are still waiting for the Chinese surveillance ship Xiang Yang Hong 03, which was supposed to land at Male harbor on February 8 for an operational turnaround. Currently positioned in the south Indian Ocean, well outside the Exclusive Economic Zones of India, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives, the espionage ship is 20 hours away from Male.
For the record, the Chinese surveillance ship was only permitted to access the Male port for out-of-port transfers (OTR) and was not permitted to carry out any surveys or mapping of the ocean floor in the Maldives’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
The Modi administration is in a wait-and-see posture but is fully equipped to assist the Maldives in the event of a humanitarian crisis, even though India is anticipated to replace the military crew of one ALH helicopter flying the Maldivian flag by the end of this month or early in March.
Rather than become agitated over Muizzu’s anti-India stance in order to save his political career, the Modi administration has approved the Indian Navy’s expansion of the air strip at Agatti Islands, which are adjacent to Lakshadweep, and Minicoy Islands, with the approval of a new air base for Minicoy Islands.
On March 4-5 in Kochi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will dedicate the first squadron of MH-60 R Sikorsky helicopters. He will then board India’s two aircraft carrier strike groups and go to Minicoy, Maldives, to commission INS Jatayu, a new facility.
Although Muizzu’s anti-Indian political posturing is directed towards the April Majlis elections, public opinion of China’s Belt Road Initiative (BRI) for Maldivian infrastructure development is, at best, ambivalent. Following their high-interest loans from Chinese EXIM banks, some nations, including Pakistan, Kenya, and Tanzania, are struggling under the weight of their BRI debt.
