Indian administration remark
regarding Maldives government decisions to scrap GMR’s airport development
project would be labeled as “immature”. Indian government made it very clear
that GMR should stay in Maldives. One thing you should appreciate in
GMR-Maldives saga is that GMR got the necessary power required to pull string
in the Indian government.
India is the superpower of South Asia
and Maldives is the smallest nation in Asia. This is a battle India can’t
afford lose in terms of foreign diplomacy. The incumbent Congress also needs to
win this war as election is on the horizon.
GMR thought Maldives as Fiji but
they failed realized this islanders are pretty good at playing games when it comes
to investment. When India and few other nations were colony of British Empire,
Maldives outsmarted British and maintained its independence. Maldives did not
wage a war to reclaim its land from British. Former president Ibrahim Naseer
took back Gan from British using diplomacy.
Maldives may be small and is a
small Muslim nation but the reality is its south Asian gate way to western
world. Maldives is a major player in south Asian foreign diplomacy. Under the steward ship of Former Maldivian Foreign
Minister Ibrahim Hussain Zaki, SARC rose to prominence. Before that hardly
people with in South Asia also knew about organization. Indian needs Maldives as
much as Maldives need India.
Indian government should
understand at the end of day GMR issue was just simply business. Indian media
should not take us as Pakistan; we are not Islamic militia nation. Indian Media
is quick to highlight the some thirty thousand Indian live in Maldives failing
to acknowledge 30% of them are illegal immigrants. They fail to acknowledge there
lot of Indian investment in Maldives, who have been doing business for few
decades.
GMR came to Maldives as cocky multinational
and failed big time. Here some of the main reason they failed.
Failure to understand Maldivian culture
GMR chose worst time to invest.
Maldives was undergoing huge change culturally and politically. This is a nation
where youth listen to Pinkfloyd to Metallica. People are familiar with Davinchi
and Darwins works. It seems GMR thought Maldives as small nation, with bunch of
illiterates, who they can slave as they want. Mistreat as they want. The
reality came to them biting as first few months they had problems with the
staff of baggage handling department. From very start they had problems with
laws and regulation of Maldives. They were found guilty of unlawful firing of
few staffs by Employment tribunal of Maldives.
Bribes do not work all the
time
First fall the politicians in
Maldives as corrupt as their counterparts in sub-continent may be in the Maldives
it is worse than any other country. They have been accusation that leading
figures in DRP(the main opposition party two years ago) took some lofty gifts
from GMR. If it’s true, it was worst way to spend their bribe money. Two years
ago power struggle within DRP resulted in formation of PPM, which was led by former
president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. PPM stood against whatever MDP and DRP stood
for. GMR’s aggressive approach of flexing
their financial mussels to buy people who are against them and support the politicians
who defended GMR did not go well with PPM. Maumoon leading PPM, GMR forgot
wealth of experience he brings to the table, as he was undisputed leader of
this nation for 30 years. GMR got sucked in to old man’s trickery. GMR took
Maumoon as a dinosaur, who belonged to museum. Its evident old man has plenty
fight left him.
There was no doubt this project was beneficial
to Maldives and GMR, but GMR miss calculation cost them dearly. Maldives was
fed up with 30 years abuse of power by former leader and they will not put up
with abuse of power by anyone any more. As student of economics I believe there
is more civilized ways to send GMR packing back to turkey or Delhi. But who is
going to put up with Indian management style in Maldives.
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