On July 26, 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was honored as the Guest of Honor at the Maldives’ 60th Independence Day celebrations — a powerful symbol of renewed bilateral warmth. Just months earlier, many commentators — including YouTuber Dhruv Rathee — had derided India’s regional diplomacy as a “total disaster,” asserting that Prime Minister Modi and External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar had failed to protect Indian interests in the neighborhood. Their claims gained momentum after Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu spearheaded the aggressive “India Out” campaign, expelled Indian military personnel, and broke convention by visiting Beijing for his first official foreign trip.

The optics then appeared bleak. Muizzu’s rhetoric was sharply anti-India, prompting hasty obituaries for India’s influence in Male. And yet, the strategic calculus has shifted. Modi’s warm reception — with Muizzu personally greeting him, and Maldivian schoolchildren chanting “Vande Mataram” — marked not just a diplomatic thaw, but a significant recalibration of regional ties. It affirmed the quiet power of patient diplomacy, developmental engagement, and principled regional leadership that India has long championed.

Throughout crises — from natural disasters to the COVID-19 pandemic — India has stood as the Maldives’ first responder, offering infrastructure, financial assistance, and medical support. During this latest visit, India extended a $565 million line of credit, advanced critical infrastructure projects including the Hanimadhoo Airport expansion, and initiated discussions on a Free Trade Agreement — reinforcing India’s reputation as a trusted development partner. Unlike certain powers whose engagements come with unsustainable debt and strategic strings, India’s approach focuses on capacity-building and respect for sovereignty.

This echoes India’s swift and decisive support to Sri Lanka during its economic collapse, when other powers hesitated. As Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena candidly acknowledged, “India saved us… otherwise, there would have been another bloodbath for all of us.”

These developments puncture the simplistic narrative that India is “losing the neighbourhood.” And yet, in a video uploaded on June 21, 2025, Dhruv Rathee argued that India’s foreign policy is in shambles. But his analysis, driven more by ideological bias than strategic understanding, ignores the complex, evolving nature of international relations — and the hard-earned successes of Indian diplomacy.

On Trump, Modi, and misplaced blame

Rathee criticizes Modi for investing in U.S. President Donald Trump — highlighting events like “Howdy Modi” and “Namaste Trump” — and then blames Modi for the unpredictability of Trump’s decisions, including his recent repeated ceasefire remarks on India-Pakistan relations. But this argument collapses under its........

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