By Dr Athaulla A Rasheed
Analysis
9 October 2025
Defence strategic narratives are powerful instruments in shaping foreign policy, especially for small island states like Maldives. These narratives help articulate national security priorities, define regional alignments, and project sovereign agency in a complex geopolitical environment. For Maldives, the Indian Ocean is not just a geographic reality – it is a strategic lifeline. The country’s security is deeply intertwined with the stability of the region, making defence cooperation with India a central pillar of its foreign policy and security.
The Maldives–India defence cooperation dialogue, held in Malé on 7 October 2025, reaffirms this strategic orientation. Coinciding with the anniversary of Maldives’ President Mohamed Muizzu’s high-level talks with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2024, the 2025 dialogue reflects a continuity of purpose and a deepening of bilateral defence ties. This analysis revisits these ongoing defence and security engagements between the two countries.
The October 2025 defence dialogue is symbolically significant. A year earlier, on the same date, Muizzu and Modi had agreed to elevate bilateral relations under India’s Neighbourhood First policy and Vision SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region). These frameworks emphasise regional cooperation, maritime security, and developmental assistance – i.e., these principles align closely with Maldives’ strategic interests in forming foreign partnerships.
India’s role as a “First Responder” in times of crisis – whether during the 1988 coup attempt, the 2014 Malé water crisis, or the COVID-19 pandemic – has been repeatedly acknowledged by Maldivian leadership. This narrative of reliability and proximity reinforces India’s position as a trusted partner in both emergency response and long-term strategic planning. This creates the intersubjectivity to drive mutual interests between the two countries.
The October 2025 defence dialogue would produce a comprehensive set of arrangements that reflect the evolving nature of Maldives–India strategic cooperation – i.e., military cooperation, capacity building, defence equipment promotion and regional security engagements. These arrangements are not merely transactional – they are embedded in a shared vision for regional stability and mutual development.
Both countries face common threats in the Indian Ocean, including piracy, illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, drug trafficking, terrorism, and climate-induced maritime risks. For example, Ekuverin, Dosti, Ekatha and Operation Shield have strengthened the Maldives National Defence Force’s (MNDF) capacity. Maldives, with its vast Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) – i.e., 98 per cent of its territory is ocean –, is particularly vulnerable to maritime threats. The defence dialogue is integral in acknowledging this vulnerability and reaffirms India’s commitment to support Maldives in addressing both traditional and non-traditional security threats.
To revisit the ongoing arrangements that would reflect the recent dialogue:
Muizzu’s early tenure was initially marked by the “India Out” campaign, which called for the removal of Indian military personnel. However, the narrative has since evolved. The July 2025 visit of Modi to Malé marked a strategic reset. The October 2025 defence dialogue consolidates this shift, reflecting a pragmatic embrace of India as a strategic partner. The dialogue is a testament to the power of strategic narratives in shaping policy and partnerships. For Maldives, the narrative is one of agency, alignment, and aspiration. For India, the narrative reinforces its role as a net security provider and regional anchor. The convergence of these narratives will continue to define the trajectory of Maldives–India relations.
Dr Athaulla A Rasheed is the Head of Centre at the Centre for Security and Strategic Studies at The Maldives National University. A former foreign service officer and diplomat at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maldives, Athaulla also holds two PhDs in international and strategic studies, and political science from ANU and the University of Queensland, Australia.
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