ANALYSING THE REPORTING OF THE MALDIVIAN, INDIAN AND CHINESE MEDIA OF THE INDIA OUT CAMPAIGN

Abstract

The island nation of Maldives is embroiled into the great powers game in the Indian Ocean Region. Traditionally, it has enjoyed excellent ties with India, but the relations oscillate depending upon who is in power in Maldives. The newly elected President, Mohamed Muizzu has been known to strengthen the “India Out” campaign. The campaign aims to reassert Maldives sovereignty by ensuring there are no Indian troops on the island nation. This campaign is despite the fact that India has gifted several defence equipment, such as boats and helicopters, that are used for humanitarian and medical aid. China is the biggest beneficiary of the India Out campaign. The China-Maldives relations are rising with increasing trade and tourism. The reportage of an issue in a country’s press gives an overall sense of the importance of the issue, as well as the possible policy alignments. In cross border issues, media coverage also plays an influential role in shaping the discourse. Given this background, this review analyses the media coverage of the India Out campaign and its related aspects between 1 December 2023-31 March 2024. This review is from the media lens of three countries: Maldives, India, and China. The authors have analysed several mainstream newspapers and news portals, such as SunOnline, the Edition, the Indian Express, the Hindustan Times, Global Times, China Daily, South China Morning Post, etc.