Maldives looks to ‘long lost cousin’ China, despite ‘brother’ India’s concerns
Envoy says country will further embrace Chinese investment, as Maldivian president lifts 45-day state of emergency in troubled South Asian nation
The Maldives will further embrace Chinese investment but is aware it risks getting caught between China and India, the country’s ambassador to China said on Thursday.
He made the remarks after Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen lifted a state of emergency in the troubled South Asian nation after 45 days.
The Maldives’ ambassador to China Mohamed Faisal told the South China Morning Post that the country would push ahead with Chinese projects and seek more investment from the country, regardless of concerns raised by regional power India.
Rivalry between China and India has been playing out amid political turmoil in the Indian Ocean archipelago that erupted in early February. It has seen Yameen order the arrest of two former leaders who staged a coup ahead of a presidential election to be held in September, with one of them seeking military intervention from India, and accusing the government of letting China “buy up” the Maldives.
“We have been caught up in this new way that the world is looking at China,” Faisal said.