India should be alert about proximity of Maldives to China: Shashi Tharoor

Chennai: India should certainly be alert about the proximity of Maldives to China and the government must be aware of the danger that this represents, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said here on Sunday.

China has been attempting to expand its influence throughout India's periphery, he said at the 54th annual day of 'Thuglak' magazine here.

Commenting on his views on the Maldives-India diplomatic row after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Lakshadweep islands, Tharoor said, "we have to watch very carefully the increasing proximity of the Maldives government to the Chinese."

"There is no doubt about the fact that China has been attempting to expand its influence throughout our periphery. They have been increasingly influential in everyone of our neighbouring countries, everyone, without exception," Tharoor, who had served as the Minister of State for External Affairs, said.

Elaborating, he said, "we (India) should certainly be alert and I am sure that our government must be aware of the dangers that this represents and there will be some redlines which would be privately communicated among governments."

"...We have to understand is that you (Maldives) have the right to have relations with other countries like we do, but some things we would see as a serious concern for our interests and in those we will take proper action. So far, I think there was no cause for any alarm," he noted.

However, he observed that India's foreign policy should not be discussed in social media and there has to be a more serious level of engagement following the diplomatic row between India and Maldives being widely discussed in various social media platforms.

"We must understand and respect the sensitivities of a small neighbour being close to all," he said.

Earlier, referring to a question on whether the I.N.D.I.A. bloc alliance would bring Muslims to power, he said, "I.N.D.I.A. Bloc alliance would bring Indians to power and I want to remind you that Muslims are also Indians." "We should not forget that one of the great strengths of our society is that we have appreciated people of all sorts of backgrounds," he said.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai, who was present on the occasion, referring to the recent Global Investors Meet organised by the DMK government, said it has attracted Rs 6.64 lakh crore and this was comparatively less to what other states have received as investment commitments from multinational companies.

"Tamil Nadu has conducted the investors summit and we have received Rs 6.64 lakh crore. Gujarat has garnered Rs 26 lakh crore and Uttar Pradesh received Rs 33 lakh core. In 2022, Karnataka conducted a similar investor summit and it received Rs 10 lakh crore. But Purvanchal and Bundelkhand alone in Uttar Pradesh have received Rs 9.74 lakh crore more than what Tamil Nadu attracted," he said.

"Stalin and DMK Ministers should understand that money will always see the future, money will not see the past. What the next 20 years are going to be, how is the economy going to be stable, these are areas they need to focus on," he said.