Maldives or Indonesia, who did India vote for?

Malé had a false sense of assurance that India supported it, though reports suggested that the government had voted against it. Contradictorily, India not only voted for Indonesia, but also worked to ensure that Male fared poorly in the election.

Male's bid for the Asia-Pacific seat was trumped by Indonesia by a confounding margin: Indonesia got support from 144 countries in the secret ballot voting on June 8, while the Maldives got support from only 46 countries.

India's vote may be dismissed as only of academic interest, given Indonesia's victory margin, but it is still significant in the context of discord with Male in the recent past. It is believed that the country has worked overtime to undermine India's security interests in the Indian Ocean under its President Abdulla Yameen. India had pledged support to Male earlier, but worked against it, and this is the first punitive action against the Maldives.

Indonesia had sought support from India for its candidature during PM Narendra Modi's visit to Jakarta just ahead of the voting. The visit witnessed the 2 countries upgrade their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

Last week, India called out Yameen for sentencing of political prisoners without giving them a fair trial.
This had cast doubt on the commitment of Male to uphold the Rule of Law and that it also therefore questions the credibility of the entire process of Presidential elections in September this year.