While there have been academic studies on some its neighbors’ relations with countries in the Middle East, such as India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka by this author and others, there has been nothing of that nature regarding the Maldives, most likely because of the paucity of available published sources on contemporary Maldivian affairs and the fact that many small states are not given much attention by academics. This article seeks to address that oversight.
While the draft legislation is popularly termed as the ‘India Out’ Bill, the text does not mention the South Asian giant by name but refers in a generic sense to Maldives’ ties with foreign countries.