Muizzu under fire after Maldivian child dies on being denied Indian Medevac aid

With a critically ill Maldivian child dying after being denied the use of an Indian aircraft for medical evacuation, President Mohamed Muizzu has come under harsh criticism from the citizens of his own country. ETV Bharat’s Aroonim Bhuyan looks at the fallout of this tragedy vis-à-vis India-Maldives relations.

New Delhi: Amidst a diplomatic row between New Delhi and Male, Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu has come under fire from citizens of his country after he denied permission for an Indian Dornier aircraft to carry out the medical evacuation of a critically ill child, who eventually passed away.

Thirteen-year-old Mohamed Jaah Khalid of Villingili Island in Gaafu Alif Atoll was initially taken to a hospital on Thursday due to vomiting and nausea. However, tests showed that he had a tumour in his brain, upon which requests were made for a prompt transfer to medical facilities in the Maldives’ capital Male.

However, Muizzu denied permission for an Indian Dornier aircraft to carry out the medical evacuation of Jaah. The critically ill child was brought to the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) in Male by a Maldivian aircraft 16 hours after the doctors at the Gaafu Alif Atoll Hospital asked that the patient be transferred immediately for further treatment. Jaah eventually passed away on Saturday while undergoing treatment in the intensive care unit of the IGMH.

Muizzu denied permission for the services of the Indian aircraft as he has been demanding the withdrawal of a handful of Indian military personnel present in the Maldives, who are involved in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief work. Muizzu and his government have come under harsh public criticism following the tragic death and accusations from the family that the death was caused due to avoidable delays in arranging the transfer from the island to a medical facility in Male.

“… A young boy from GA. Villigili has lost his life when the Dornier could have potentially saved him. How many lives must be sacrificed due to Muizzu's pitiful arrogance?” Mohamed Faisal, former deputy ambassador of the Maldives to the United Arab Emirates, posted on X (formerly Twitter).

“The Muizzu Govt. refused to transfer a critically ill 14 (sic) year old boy via a Dornier aircraft, proudly showcasing false patriotism. Consequently, led to a 16 hrs delay in chartering another flight, ultimately resulting in the unfortunate passing of the boy,” a user with the handle @nissasaeed posted on X. “How many more lives will be taken by Muizzu's fake and egoistic pro-Maldives approach? The real pro-Maldives policy always prioritizes the lives of citizens above all else. Shame on you @MMuizzu.”

Another Maldivian citizen with the handle @HKurursee said that he wanted “the whole world including India and Pakistan to know what a heartless and egoistic monster we have as Maldives president”.

“This 14 year old boy passed away today cause @MMuizzu refused to give approval to use the Dornier aircraft given by India to fly him from his home island to capital city under emergency (he was in a critical condition). Our own air ambulance is not yet ready so the island hospital requested to use the Dornier aircraft,” @HKurusee posted on X.

The user further stated that Maldives Defence Minister Ghassan Maumoon requested the president immediately. “But the president denied the request,” @HKurusee posted. “After the Maldives-India’s diplomatic crisis, the government changed the policy so that Dornier can only be used for any operation or mission after DIRECT APPROVAL from the President of the Maldives. But yes, he denied it. Due to this, his transport was delayed for more than 16 hours. A human’s life cannot be compromised to entertain one’s egos & stubbornness. But, that’s precisely what he did. The island people even protested in front (sic) of the hospital to pressure the government to give approval for the Dornier but monster @MMuizzu still refused.”

A rattled Muizzu then sent his condolences to the family of the deceased child. “President Dr Mohamed Muizzu was deeply saddened to learn of the death of 13-year-old Mohamed Jaah Khalid of GA. Villingili Island, as he was undergoing treatment at the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital,” a statement issued by the President’s Office read. “Following the tragic incident, the President extended his heartfelt condolences to Mohamed Jaah Khalid’s parents and family.”

According to the statement, Muizzu requested a thorough review from the relevant authorities of the preceding events during the patient’s emergency transfer from GA. Vilingili Island to Male. “He additionally implored the authorities to revise and modify the current protocols surrounding the emergency transfers of patients requiring immediate medical attention to prevent such incidents henceforth,” the statement further read. “Furthermore, the President directed Island Aviation Services Limited to establish a protocol prioritising timely patient transportation for critical patients without requiring the completion of the approval process by administrative bodies, such as Aasandha.”

Aasandha, the company running the universal health insurance scheme of the Maldives, said in a statement that the child faced a delay in transportation to Male due to a last-minute technical issue with the flight, despite approval within 12 minutes after the request from the Gaafu Alif Atoll Hospital was received.

Meanwhile, Maldives Health Minister Dr Abdulla Khaleel said that the introduction of a new air ambulance service from March 1 will solve the problem of delays in transporting patients in need of emergency evacuation. Jaah’s death is being seen as the fallout of a series of anti–India steps that Muizzu has taken after assuming office in November last year.

Muizzu had won last year’s presidential election on a pronounced anti-India plank. He ran an 'India Out' campaign in which he called for the withdrawal of some Indian military personnel present in his country. These personnel are primarily involved in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief work in the Indian Ocean archipelago nation. However, after assuming office, Muizzu made a formal request to India to withdraw these personnel. According to official Maldivian figures, less than a hundred Indian military personnel are present in the Indian Ocean archipelago nation.

Last month, the Maldives decided not to renew a hydrography agreement with India citing national security concerns and the safeguarding of sensitive information. The hydrographic survey agreement was signed on June 8, 2019, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Maldives. Under the agreement, India was allowed to conduct a comprehensive study of the island nation’s territorial waters, which includes reefs, lagoons, coastlines, ocean currents, and tide levels.

And then again, earlier this month, ahead of the announcement of Muizzu’s visit to China, the Maldives decided to allow a Chinese vessel to enter its territorial waters ostensibly to do research work. This decision came despite pressure from the Indian government and concerns raised by various quarters about the vessel being a “spy vessel”. India has strongly been protesting the repeated visits by Chinese vessels to the waters of the south Indian Ocean, a region New Delhi considers to be under its sphere of influence.

As part of New Delhi’s Neighbourhood First Policy, the Maldives is strategically significant to India because of its location in the Indian Ocean. India and the Maldives share ethnic, linguistic, cultural, religious and commercial links steeped in antiquity and enjoy close, cordial and multi-dimensional relations. However, regime instability in the Maldives since 2008 has posed significant challenges to the India-Maldives relationship, particularly in the political and strategic spheres.

Although India continues to be an important partner of the Maldives, New Delhi cannot afford to be complacent over its position and must remain attentive to the developments in the Maldives. India must play a key role within the Indo-Pacific security space to ensure regional security in South Asia and surrounding maritime boundaries. China’s strategic footprint in India’s neighbourhood has increased. The Maldives has emerged as an important ‘pearl’ in China’s ‘String of Pearls’ construct in South Asia.

Coming back to the issue of the withdrawal of Indian military personnel, India and the Maldives held a high-level core group meeting in Male on January 14 to discuss this and other bilateral issues.

Following the meeting, India’s External Affairs Ministry said that both sides discussed ways to identify steps for enhancing the bilateral partnership and to find a mutually workable solution for the continued operation of Indian aviation platforms in the Maldives.

“During the meeting, both sides held discussions on wide-ranging issues related to bilateral cooperation towards identifying steps to enhance the partnership, including expediting the implementation of ongoing development cooperation projects,” a Ministry statement read. “Both sides also held discussions on finding mutually workable solutions to enable continued operation of Indian aviation platforms that provide humanitarian and medevac services to the people of Maldives.”

However, according to the Maldives Foreign Ministry, both sides agreed to fast-track the withdrawal of the Indian military personnel from the Indian Ocean archipelago nation. “During the meeting held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Maldives, both sides reviewed the existing bilateral cooperation,” a statement issued by the Maldives Foreign Ministry read. “Discussions were held on a wide range of issues of mutual interest, including development cooperation. Both sides expressed willingness to intensify cooperation and agreed to fast-track the withdrawal of Indian military personnel.”

These statements were issued after Abdulla Nazim Ibrahim, the public policy secretary at the Maldives President’s Office, said in a media briefing held while the meeting was underway that President Mohamed Muizzu has formally asked India to withdraw its military personnel by March 15.

According to observers, Muizzu has set the deadline of March 15 as he fears that his party would be reduced to a minority with parliamentary elections scheduled to be held in the Maldives on March 17. Indian authorities have, however, hinted that the March 17 deadline issue did not come up for discussion during the January 14 meeting.

“Both sides held discussions (during the January 14 meeting) on finding a mutually workable solution to enable continued operation of Indian aviation platforms that provide humanitarian and Medevac services to the people of Maldives,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal reiterated during his weekly media briefing on Thursday.

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