INDIA-MALDIVES’ JUDICIAL COOPERATION

• Recently, the Government has approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the field of judicial cooperation between India and the Judicial Service Commission of Maldives.
• It is the eighth MoU signed between India and other countries in the field of Judicial Cooperation.
• Earlier, the National College for Policing and Law Enforcement (NCPLE) was inaugurated by India’s External Affairs Minister during his two day visit to Maldives.
• NCPLE is one of India’s largest funded projects in the island nation – in the Maldives’ Addu City.

Significance of MoU

• It will provide a platform to tap the benefits of Information Technology for court digitization, and can be a potential growth area for the IT (Information Technology) companies and start-ups in both the countries.
• The good relations between the two countries will receive further impetus.
• It will not only enable exchange of knowledge and technology in judicial and other legal areas between the two countries but will also further the objectives of ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy”

Significance of India-Maldives Relations

• Maldives is a Toll Gate in the Indian Ocean.
• It is located at the southern and northern parts of this island chain lies the two important Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOCs).
• These SLOCs are critical for maritime trade flow between the Gulf of Aden and Gulf of Hormuz in West Asia and the Strait of Malacca in Southeast Asia.
• Nearly 50% of India’s external trade and 80% of its energy imports transit these SLOCs in the Arabian Sea.
• Maldives is a member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC). 

Way Forward

• Although India continues to be an important partner of the Maldives, India must not grow complacent over its position and must remain attentive to the developments in the Maldives.
• India must play a key role within Indo-Pacific security space to ensure regional security in South Asia and surrounding maritime boundaries.

SOURCE: THE HINDU,THE ECONOMIC TIMES,MINT