Maldives: Benefiting from Chinese-Indian Competition

The ongoing presidential election in the Maldives is just the latest development in a long political competition during which India's once-stalwart partner has begun creeping toward China's expanding sphere of regional influence. Located in the heart of the Indian Ocean, the tiny island nation is an important regional tax haven and investment hub. The Maldives has also become an increasingly strategic port of call, joining Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan as South Asian states being courted by Beijing in its attempt to expand China's maritime presence along critical trade routes to the Middle East and the West.

India has backed former president Mohamed Nasheed, who was ousted in what appeared to be a coup in 2012, in his bid to retake office. Nasheed took 45 percent of the vote in the first round of the election and appears to be in a strong position heading into a runoff against the brother of the dictator he defeated in the 2008 election. However, the political forces that led to Nasheed's removal still exist in the country, and the inroads made by China since Nasheed's removal will not be reversed by a change in presidential leadership. The evolving political dynamic in the island nation reflects India's challenge of maintaining its dominant position within its periphery as smaller South Asian states experience greater economic development and global integration.