Maldives knows too well what being India's neighbor is like

On the eve of Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu's visit to China in mid-January, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was vacationing in India's Lakshadweep Islands, just north of the Maldives, something that was widely interpreted as a bid to lure Indian tourists to the islands at the expense of the Maldives.

A picture published later showed Modi in slippers, reclining on a chaise longue, his left hand resting on his chin while he looked pensively at the sea. "The beauty and tranquility of the Lakshadweep Islands gives me the opportunity to reflect on how I can work harder for the well-being of 1.4 billion Indians," Modi tweeted.

What did Modi do after returning to India? It now emerges that India is building a military base on the Lakshadweep Islands, 130 kilometers from the Maldives, which was officially opened on Wednesday. The new military base brings India's forces more than 250 kilometers closer to the Maldives than they earlier were.

That is to say, just after the Maldives expelled Indian troops, New Delhi set up a military base next door. The Indian navy claims that India wants to strengthen its forces on a "strategically important" island, and that the new base will expand India's "operational surveillance" in the region.

Who does India spy on? The Maldives will certainly feel the chill. In a recent talk about India-Maldives relations, Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar suddenly became emotional, saying, "when you say India is perceived as a big bully, you know, big bullies don't provide $4.5 billion when the neighbors are in trouble. Big bullies don't supply vaccines to other countries when COVID-19 is on or make exceptions to their own rules to respond to food demands or fuel demands or fertilizer demands."

Ironically, India is behaving like a bully. India is boycotting the Maldives in a big way, with Indian travel agencies canceling trips to the Maldives, and Bollywood stars and athletes calling for a total boycott of the country, including imposing food and medicine sanctions, which is equivalent to cutting off the Maldives' lifeline.

The Maldives must have felt offended by India, as Muizzu responded saying his country is not any other country's backyard and the Indian Ocean does not belong to any country.

What New Delhi has done to its neighbors in the past makes people agree that it is not easy being India's neighbor.