China and the Maldives have upgraded their relationship during newly elected President Mohamed Muizzu\u2019s first state visit to Beijing, following a campaign in which he cast China\u2019s regional rival India as a threat to its sovereignty. The Maldives signed several new agreements with China \u2013 its largest external creditor \u2013 on Wednesday, including ones on climate, agriculture and infrastructure, Muizzu\u2019s office said on Thursday. No details about the value of the deals were shared by either side. Chinese President Xi Jinping, speaking at the Great Hall of the People, called Muizzu \u201can old friend\u201d as the Asian giant set the stage for further investment in the Indian Ocean archipelago by agreeing to a \u201ccomprehensive strategic cooperative partnership\u201d. In talks with Xi, Muizzu \u201cexpressed gratitude for China\u2019s significant role in the Maldives\u2019 economic success and infrastructure development,\u201d read a statement from his office. \u201cUnder the new circumstances, China-Maldives relations face a historic opportunity to build on past achievements and forge ahead,\u201d Xi told Muizzu, according to China\u2019s state news agency Xinhua. The Chinese president said he \u201crespects and supports the Maldives in exploring a development path suited to its national conditions\u201d, it said. But the World Bank, in a report in October, warned further cosying up to China could spell trouble in the Maldives, since the $1.37bn it already owes Beijing represents about 20 percent of its public debt. China is the Maldives\u2019 biggest bilateral creditor, ahead of Saudi Arabia and India, to which it owes $124m and $123m, respectively. India\u2019s relations with the Maldives have been strained, especially since Muizzu, who campaigned on an \u201cIndia Out\u201d platform, took office. He promised to remove a unit of Indian security personnel, deployed to operate three aircraft gifted to the Maldives to patrol its vast maritime territory. Sri Lanka, another neighbour of India, has also been gravitating towards China. India and China\u2019s relations soured in 2020 after clashes between soldiers in the western Himalayas resulted in the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese troops. Last month, Muizzu said he had secured the withdrawal of Indian soldiers, but did not give a timeframe. He has denied seeking to redraw the regional balance by bringing in Chinese forces instead. Tensions between the two nations continued to flare last week, following disparaging social media posts made by three of Muizzu\u2019s junior ministers, who reportedly called Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi a \u201cclown\u201d, \u201d a terrorist\u201d and \u201cpuppet of Israel\u201d, in response to a video of him promoting tourism in Lakshadweep, an Indian territory in the Arabian Sea. The posts on X have since been deleted. In the Maldives, some viewed Modi\u2019s visit as trying to draw tourists away from the globally popular destination, whose 1,192 islands in the Indian Ocean are dotted with luxury resorts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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