New Delhi: Electoral defeat of Abdulla Yameen in Maldives has brought a sigh of relief for India which was diplomatically having difficult times with the country. For, all that could have gone wrong between two countries, had gone wrong under Yameen’s presidency.

Much before the internal Emergency in February 2018 and crackdown on judges and opposition leaders drove an unassailable wedge between the two countries, Yameen’s cosying up to Beijing had made New Delhi uncomfortable.

The dictates of geography have always made India concerned about what happens in Maldives. A South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation member country, Maldives sits just 700km from the Lakshadweep island chain and some 1,200km from the Indian mainland.

It is a strategically important country in the Indian Ocean region, which has more than 40 states and nearly 40% of the world’s population. It touches Australia, South-east Asia, South Asia, West Asia and the eastern sea bend of Africa.

More than 97% of India’s international trade by volume and 75% by value passes through the Indian Ocean. Beijing could substantially raise its level of engagements under Yameen’s rule.

Although the Chinese footprint in South Asia and the Indian Ocean region is something New Delhi has learnt to live with despite an understandable unease, the rapid expansion in ties between Male and Beijing has become a larger cause of concern.

Maldives has become a showpiece of mega projects-driven Chinese foreign policy as well as an important player in president Xi Jinping’s marquee one-road-one-belt project.

Chinese presence in the island nation has been growing steadily ever since Beijing opened an embassy in Male in 2011, about 37 years after India set up its mission there. Maldives is the only country after Pakistan that China has a free trade agreement with.