Sri Lanka/The Maldives
One island to another
President Mohamed Nasheed recently paid a visit to his country's closest island neighbour, Sri Lanka. In President Mahinda Rajapaske's official residence in Colombo, the two discussed deepening ties in trade and investment. President Nasheed also congratulated President Rajapakse on his government's defeat of the LTTE. Indeed, Maldivian support of Colombo's war effort has been unequivocal throughout the ethnic conflict.
But this support is not merely brotherly. Ever since the September 2007 bomb blast in a Male tourist park, which injured 12 people, violence perpetrated by extremists (religious rather than ethnic in this instance) has been gaining ground in the Maldives. Historically speaking, militancy in the atolls has also had a Sri Lankan connection. In 1988, political opponents of then-President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom hired Sri Lankan Tamils, members of the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), in their attempted coup. At that time, India jumped in to foil the putsch. Today Colombo, with its immense experience in countering militant tactics, could well prove invaluable should the situation worsen. (The perpetrators of the 2007 blasts, meanwhile, are believed to be taking refuge in Pakistan.)
This mutual interest is further bolstered by economic co-dependency, more important in these days of global meltdown. Sri Lanka's finances are, of course, doing poorly after decades of conflict, but the lamentable state of the Maldivian economy is not something President Nasheed shies away from admitting. Aware that the atolls cannot ride out the downturn alone, he is busy creating incentives for foreign investors. To this end, President Rajapakse has promised to install a framework to make Sri Lankan rupees readily available to the Maldivian market. Already, Sri Lankan companies hold substantial investments there.