India urges pro-China Maldives to ease tensions and improve their strained relationship

By ASHOK SHARMA
Associated Press

NEW DELHI (AP) — India has urged pro-China Maldives to ease tensions and improve their strained relationship. The foreign ministers of India and Maldives met in New Delhi on Thursday, a day ahead of a deadline set by the Maldives’ new president for India to withdraw dozens of its soldiers from the archipelago nation. Tensions between India and Maldives have grown since President Mohamed Muizzu came to power last year. Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told his Maldives counterpart, Moosa Zameer, that India has been a key provider of development assistance. Regional powers India and China are competing for influence in the Maldives, which has a strategic location in the Indian Ocean.