Maldives frontrunner eyes closer ties with China

Maldives faces geopolitical crossroads in presidential runoff: frontrunner Muizzu seeks to demolish India's influence, build ties with China; Solih seeks reconciliation with Democrats to tip vote.

The Maldives stands at a geopolitical crossroads ahead of its presidential runoff vote with the frontrunner, a former construction minister, set on demolishing India's influence and building stronger ties with China.

The archipelago nation, better known for its upmarket beach resorts and celebrity vacationers, sits in a strategically vital position in the middle of the Indian Ocean astride one of the world's busiest east-west shipping lanes.

The vote on the chain of atolls — scattered some 800km across the equator — takes place with growing Western concern at China's growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific, with rival India part of the Quad, a strategic alliance alongside the United States, Australia and Japan.

Frontrunner Mohamed Muizzu is the protege of former leader Abdulla Yameen, who steered the archipelago towards Beijing's orbit while in office and became an eager recipient of financial largesse from China's Belt and Road infrastructure programme.

Muizzu won just over 46 percent of Saturday's first-round vote with incumbent Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who presided over a restoration of ties with traditional benefactor India, trailing on 39 percent.

Foreign policy is set to dominate the campaign before the September 30 runoff, with both men sharply divided on managing the India-China rivalry.

Muizzu told an online meeting with Chinese Communist Party representatives last year that a return to power of his Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) would "script a further chapter of strong ties between our two countries".