THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 26 September 2018 (The Male message)

The Male message

Mains Paper: 2 | India and its neighbourhood relation 
Prelims level: Maldives Election 
Mains level: How Maldives election is important for India?  

Context 

• The victory of the joint Opposition candidate, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih the democratic instinct of this small Indian Ocean island is alive and well.
• The election was held in contentious circumstances.
• Yameen had imposed an Emergency earlier in the year and jailed opposition leaders and judges.

Important highlights of this election event 

• The MDP offices in Male were raided the night before voting day on September 23.
• The run up was full of allegations that Yameen, would rig the election.
• In the end, nearly 90 per cent of the over 2.6 lakh registered voters turned out, and Solih won decisively with 58.34 per cent of the vote, to Yameen’s 41.66 per cent.
• Assuming Male is all set for a smooth transition, for India, whose relations with Yameen had been strained for years over an opportunity for a fresh start on bilateral ties.
• The mistake that India has made with each of its neighbours, and should desist from repeating.
• If India desires influence in its neighbourhood, it must earn it through the hard slog of smart diplomacy, not demand it as a right of geography.
• New Delhi should plan a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Maldives, the only country in the neighbourhood that he has not visited.

Online Coaching for UPSC PRE Exam

General Studies Pre. Cum Mains Study Materials

UPSC Prelims Questions: 

Q.1)  Indian armed forces conducted Operation Cactus in order to
(a) Save the Maldives government from a coup in 1988.
(b) Evacuate stranded Indians from Kuwait during the Iraq invasion in 1990.
(c) Liberate Goa from the Portuguese in 1961.
(d) To end civil war between LTTE and the government in Sri Lanka in 1987
Answer:  A

UPSC Mains Questions:
Q.1)  How Maldives election is important for India?