PM @narendramodi spoke to President-elect of Maldives @ibusolih and congratulated him on his victory in the Preside… https://t.co/lEOrZ4vqCr — Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) 1537805026000

NEW DELHI: Despite his alleged efforts to muzzle democracy using brute force, Maldives Abdulla Yameen 's suffered a comprehensive defeat in the presidential polls to joint opposition candidate Ibrahim Solih in a potentially game-changing moment in Indian Ocean geopolitics.A jubilant Indian government, even before the result was officially declared, congratulated Solih saying the election not only the marked triumph of democratic forces but also reflected firm commitment to democratic forces and rule of law.Positive news for India started to trickle in hours after Yameen conceded defeat with former president Mohamed Nasheed declaring, in an interaction with TOI, that Indian military choppers, which Yameen wanted to remove from the archipelago, must stay put in the Maldives.Equally significantly, Nasheed said the new government will audit all infrastructure projects in the archipelago in light of the alleged "land grab" by the Chinese under Yameen. He said ostentatious infra projects comprising "concrete and steel had failed to catch the imagination of the people".Apart from the audit of projects, Nasheed said the new government will also look into how much money had come into the Maldives in the recent past."I am optimistic that China will understand Maldives’ reasons for doing it given what has happened recently in countries like Sri Lanka and Malaysia," said Nasheed, as he thanked India for its support to the joint opposition.Nasheed recalled how the cost for the recently inaugurated 'China-Maldives Friendship Bridge' was estimated at around $77 million when his government approved it but later, as he said, shot up to $300 million under Yameen. While Malaysia recently cancelled several BRI projects, Sri Lanka continues to reel under the mountain of debt resulting from easy Chinese loans.While Yameen had ensured disqualification of Nasheed from the polls, the pro-India former president was the tallest leader of the opposition coalition and is expected to play a guiding role for the new government headed by president-elect Ibrahim Solih.Nasheed also called Yameen's foreign policy misguided. "He just had no idea about the dynamics of great power relations in Indian Ocean. We will work with India for a meaningful safety and security umbrella in the Indian Ocean," said Nasheed.The Indian government also said in its statement that in keeping with its Neighbourhood First policy, it looked forward to working closely with Male to further the relationship. Conceding defeat in a televised statement, Yameen said that the Maldivian people had decided what they wanted and that he had accepted the results. Solih though will take oath only in November, after Yameen’s term as president ends.Former President Nasheed, who was convicted in a criminal case and has been living in exile since 2016, said by voting for change, the people of Maldives had made it clear which country their interests aligned with. "The new government will define what 'India First' means for the Maldives," he said."We would like to plug into India’s development and its democratic institutions for capacity building. Connectivity is another important issue India can help us with," said Nasheed.Nasheed though ruled out himself from becoming a part of the government. "I believe Ibrahim Solih has it in him to take everybody together and forge national unity," he said."The people of Maldives now want a democracy where there is respect for human rights, individual freedom, free speech, freedom of press … where they can lead a happy life," said Nasheed.Nasheed’s remarks on China are extremely significant keeping in mind reservations expressed by several countries in south and southeast Asia over BRI, described by many as a debt trap. In an interview to TOI in February, Nasheed had said China had acquired as many as 17 islands from Yameen."You can’t propagate dictatorship in the name of developmental assistance," he had said. According to estimates by the opposition parties, Yameen’s policies have resulted in Maldives’ owing 70 per cent of its external debt to China.