'India a brother, China like a long-lost cousin'

A Maldives diplomat has termed India a brother and China a long-lost cousin of the Indian Ocean nation, South China Morning Post reports.

The Maldives' ambassador to China, Mohamed Faisal, came up with the comment as the two powers flexed their muscle in exerting influence over the island country, creating tensions in the Maldives and outside.

Two days after Maldivian president Abdulla Yameen lifted a state of emergency, the ambassador was quoted to have said that the Maldives will further embrace Chinese investment and “is aware it risks getting caught between China and India.”

“India is a brother. We are a family, we may quarrel and we may have arguments but in the end we will sit down and resolve it,” the newspaper quoted the ambassador as saying in a report published on 22 March.

 said that India is a brother to Maldives and China is like a long lost cousin found, South China Morning Post reported.

“We have taken a lot of our projects to India as well, but we did not receive the necessary finance. China is like a long lost cousin that we have found, a long lost cousin who is willing to help us,” the ambassador was quoted as saying.

He, however, was said to have maintained that his country would not take any side between China and India.

The South China Morning Post mentioned that more than 70 per cent of the Maldives’ foreign debt is owed to China.