The Maldives Pakistan defence agreement signed in Islamabad on 21 October is one of 20 MoUs and agreements, and its text has not been made public. India put ₹4,850 crore ($565 million) of credit behind the same government in July 2025. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has now said it will examine the pact closely and act as its security requires.
President Mohamed Muizzu’s visit ran from 20 to 22 October and was the first by a Maldivian head of state to Pakistan in 11 years, according to Pakistan’s foreign ministry, and it marked 60 years of diplomatic ties.
Muizzu won office in 2023 on an “India Out” platform. The Indian military personnel who had operated three aviation platforms in the Maldives were replaced by Indian technical personnel by May 2024, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s July 2025 visit to Male reset the relationship.
What the Maldives Pakistan Defence Agreement Covers, and What Remains Unpublished
According to the Pakistani government, the 20 instruments cover defence, maritime security, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, health, education, social protection, agriculture, fisheries and tourism. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the talks included strategic defence cooperation, policing and capacity building. Pakistan’s military media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said Field Marshal Asim Munir and Muizzu stressed defence cooperation, institutional linkages and professional exchanges.
What those words mean in practice is not stated. The scope of the defence agreement, whether training places, exercises or equipment, has not appeared in the official accounts of the visit, and those accounts mention no deployment, base or equipment transfer.
Sharif also raised two Indian issues. He said he had briefed Muizzu on Pakistan’s position on Jammu and Kashmir, a Union Territory of India, and he spoke about the Indus Waters Treaty, which India has held in abeyance since the Pahalgam terror attack. Sharif said Pakistan would treat any violation of the treaty as an act of war. Maldivian reporting says Muizzu did not publicly respond on either subject.
How Does India’s Support to Male Compare With What Islamabad Announced?
India’s documented support is financial and defence-linked: a ₹4,850 crore line of credit, a 40 per cent cut in annual debt repayments (from $51 million to $29 million), and a Maldivian Ministry of Defence building constructed with Indian financial support, according to Akashvani’s report of the July 2025 visit. Pakistan’s announced package is a trade target of $13.9 million to $200 million within two years, technical help in information technology and data centres, and olive cuttings and seeds for a tree-planting initiative.
The categories differ, and the difference matters. A credit line is money available to draw. A trade target is an aspiration. Pakistan’s own account of the visit lists no financing commitment alongside the defence agreement, and Islamabad remains tied to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, as TES has examined in its analysis of Pakistan’s IMF-dependent finances.
Male’s own position explains why every partner matters. The World Bank says in its June 2026 update that the Maldives repaid a $500 million Sukuk (Islamic bond) and a $400 million currency swap in April, that reserves then fell to $717.9 million, equal to 1.4 months of imports, and that about $1.0 billion of external debt service remains for 2026. It rates the country at high risk of debt distress. The Maldivian Finance Ministry has presented the Sukuk repayment as evidence of a stronger external position.
TES assessment: with that much still due this year, Male has every reason to keep all its financing partners engaged. For New Delhi the arithmetic cuts two ways. India holds the larger documented stake, and has no interest in pressing a government under financial strain toward the nearest alternative.
What Have Nasheed and Muizzu Said About the Pakistan Visit?
Former president Mohamed Nasheed, who chairs the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), criticised the Maldives Pakistan defence agreement on X, writing that expanding military ties with Pakistan will increase India’s concerns and “put the Maldives at risk,” Atoll Times reported. Muizzu replied on a PSM podcast on 28 October that the Maldives will not interfere in disputes between other countries, that defence cooperation with Pakistan is meant to strengthen Maldivian capabilities, and that no foreign troops are stationed in the country.
At a press conference in Addu City on 25 October, Nasheed went further. As reported by Maldivian media, he said Muizzu had drawn the country into India-Pakistan tensions, and that if India feels its security is compromised the result would be “very bitter repercussions” for the Maldives.
Other opposition figures joined him. Former foreign minister Abdulla Shahid said Muizzu was making India an issue ahead of the 2028 election. Former defence minister Mariya Ahmed Didi wrote that cooperation with Pakistan outside security is beneficial, but that defence gestures could be read as strategic alignment.
What Has the MEA Said, and What Levers Does New Delhi Hold?
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India and the Maldives have close ties under the Neighbourhood First policy and the MAHASAGAR (Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions) vision. India will examine the Maldives Pakistan defence agreement and the other MoUs closely, he said, and is prepared to act if its security requires it, according to Atoll Times.
India’s levers are on the public record. The July 2025 package included the rupee credit line, the debt-relief amendment, the Defence Ministry building and 72 vehicles for the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) and immigration authorities.
Modi also announced that the two countries would strengthen maritime security through the Colombo Security Conclave, and assured continued Indian support for Maldivian defence capability. How much of the credit line has been drawn is not public.
India has been Male’s first responder before. The MEA lists the 1988 coup attempt, the 2004 tsunami, the 2014 water crisis and Covid-19 when it makes the point. On the night of 3 November 1988, Indian paratroopers flown from Agra landed at Hulhule airport at the request of President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. Operation Cactus remains the reference point in India-Maldives security ties.
The ocean around Male now carries digital routes as well as sea lanes, a theme TES covers in its work on Indian Ocean subsea cable geopolitics.
Does the Maldives Pakistan Defence Agreement Change India’s Calculus?
TES assessment: the weight of the Maldives-Pakistan defence pact will depend on its content. A training and exchange MoU of the kind India signs with many partners is a different matter from an access or basing arrangement, and no account of the visit points to the second.
The question arrives while the two navies are already in friction; the North Arabian Sea collision on 15 September led New Delhi to summon Pakistan’s envoy, as TES reported in its account of the India-Pakistan naval collision. Muizzu’s public line, that defence cooperation does not mean handing military control to anyone, sets a test he can be measured against.
Three Questions That Will Decide How Far the Pact Matters
What will the Maldives Pakistan defence agreement specify? Pakistan's military media wing named defence cooperation, institutional linkages and professional exchanges. Whether the text goes further, into training places, exercises or equipment, has not appeared in the official accounts of the visit, and none of them mention a deployment or base.
Will India's ₹4,850 crore line of credit be drawn down on schedule? The line was announced in July 2025 for infrastructure and other activities, and President Muizzu named defence, ports, healthcare, education and housing as uses. Drawdown figures are not public, so project announcements are the practical indicator.
Can the Maldives meet its 2026 payments without new support? The World Bank puts remaining external debt service at about $1.0 billion and reserves at 1.4 months of imports in April, while the Maldivian government points to record reserves in March. Which reading holds will shape how much room Male has to choose partners.
TES assessment: the first visible signals will be small ones, such as the next training intake, the next Colombo Security Conclave meeting or a drawdown announcement on the credit line. India’s record in Male runs from Operation Cactus to the 2025 line of credit, and Muizzu has said he will keep defence cooperation open to several partners. Both can stand at once. The text of the Maldives Pakistan defence agreement, when it surfaces, will show how much room that leaves. For a wider view of the waters involved, see TES’s guide to the Indian Ocean as a strategic corridor.
Source note: Government of India and MEA records; Akashvani; World Bank; Pakistan government and military statements as published; Maldivian government statements and local media; Indian media. Statements by Pakistani and opposition figures are reported as their claims.
