Prime Minister Modi’s Indian Ocean Island Trip Is Integral to His Second Term in Office
NOVANEWS
By Andrew Korybko
Asia-Pacific Research
Indian Prime Minister Modi will pay his first foreign trip since re-election to the Indian Ocean island states of the Maldives and Sri Lanka from 8-9 June in showcasing the geostrategic importance that these two countries have for India’s foreign policy during the next five years of his second term in office. Indian think tanks have written extensively about the need for their government to “counter” China’s influence in the Indian Ocean, which New Delhi regards as its “backyard”, and the recent political changes in the Maldives and Sri Lanka provide a prime opportunity for Prime Minister Modi to attempt to heed their advice.
The Maldives democratically changed its government late last year, during which time the international m...