Maldives may scrap 2017 Indian Ocean deal with China: Report

With India's improvement of relations with the Maldives, a 2017 deal between China and the island nation allowing the former to build an observatory on the Indian Ocean might be scrapped, The Times of India has reported.

Top government sources told the newspaper that the deal is "not on the table" anymore.

The deal between the Maldives and China was signed when Abdulla Yameen was the President of the country. He was ousted from his post after joint opposition candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih won the presidential polls last September.

The deal, titled Protocol on Establishment of Joint Ocean Observation Station, allowed China to build an observatory at Makunudhoo, which is the westernmost island of the Maldives, and close to the Indian waters, according to the report.

While the Maldives had said China is only looking to build a meteorological ocean observation centre, not meant for military purposes, the deal had set alarm bells ringing for India.

Considering the observatory's proximity to the Indian territory, and the fact that it would have provided a vantage point for China to a vital shipping route, the then foreign secretary, S Jaishankar, had discussed the issue with the Maldives' India envoy.

While the agreement between China and the Maldives regarding the observatory was not made public, Opposition leaders in the Maldives had alleged at that time that the observatory might also have a submarine base.

In India, observers had noted that the agreement was yet another addition to China's 'String of Pearls', reportedly aimed at encircling India.

"China’s supposed plan to build such a centre in the Maldives would effectively open a Chinese maritime front against India, in the same quiet way that China opened a Himalayan front against India in the 1950's," strategic affairs expert Brahma Chellaney had told ToI.

With the new Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)-led government at the helm, the report states that the relations between India and the Maldives have changed for the better. In his first foreign tour after being re-elected, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the island nation and signed a slew of agreements in a number of key areas, including defence and maritime.