Chanakyaa
BANNED
![](/styles/default/xenforo/ranks/MajorGeneral.jpg)
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2009
- Messages
- 6,538
- Reaction score
- -36
- Country
- Location
Maldives is an island nation in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The country was formerly a colony under the British Empire and gained its independence in the year 1968. Maldives is a collection of around 1,192 islands among which 192 islands are believed to be populated and sums to around 328,536. Male is recognised as the capital of Maldives. It is the smallest Asian country in both population and land area. Maldives is a presidential republic, with the President as head of government and head of state. The current President is Abdulla Yameen.
The main revenue is from Tourism. Maldives is an active member in SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation). India and Maldives have shared a friendly and close relationship in strategic, economic and military cooperation. India has contributed to maintaining security on the island nation. Maldives is placed strategically in Indian Ocean that has been considered by India as part of its Extended Exclusive Economic Region (EEER). India has time and again provided Maldives supports be it the scope for infrastructure development, resources to boost the economy of the nation or be it the security of the nation. India has provided support to Maldives during the times of revolt from within the country and from foreign armed rebels, during natural calamities and during times of distress. A notable time of support India provided to Maldives was during the coup in 1998 under the name ‘Operation Cactus ‘.
The beginning of November 1988, armed militants belonging to the People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam landed in Maldives and started joining the armed rebels within the Island nation. The rebels challenged the government headed by then president Gayoom. The plot was well laid in Sri Lanka by the Tamil nationalist group which was seeking a safe haven and base for its activities. Having a very small flotilla of armed ships the Maldivian government soon conceded defeat and the militants successfully landed in various Maldivian ports. The militants also successfully took control of the airport in Male, and took control of most of the parts in the national capital. But the militants failed to capture the President of Maldives Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who had fled the troubled country and asked for military aid from India on 3 November. The then-Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi ordered 1,600 troops to aid the Maldivian government. Thus began the “Operation Cactus”.
Some Pics from this Operation :
![Godavari2.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F-6JwSUQq29Xk%2FVRAmzsHPNzI%2FAAAAAAAAB_c%2FcvpBaxsEirI%2Fs1600%2FGodavari2.jpg&hash=939515e1a839280ced10727069047d66)
![Operation_Cactus_Maldives.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fvayu-sena-aux.tripod.com%2Fpix%2FOperation_Cactus_Maldives.jpg&hash=e170c3594ac7b5311ab7ca129abd0910)
![Pawan11.jpg](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sangam.org%2F2007%2F12%2Fimages%2FPawan11.jpg&hash=a66a15513da0a0466ee81ecbecab76a2)
![thequint%2F2018-02%2F34f11b1e-2d2d-4832-89c7-9c3e8eb3db35%2F7022d6de-8b44-4946-b060-ccff9ab4f9c4.jpg](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fimages.assettype.com%2Fthequint%252F2018-02%252F34f11b1e-2d2d-4832-89c7-9c3e8eb3db35%252F7022d6de-8b44-4946-b060-ccff9ab4f9c4.jpg%3Frect%3D0%252C44%252C730%252C243%26q%3D35%26auto%3Dformat%252Ccompress%26w%3D960&hash=da37032baf5e4223b5f38d5c608493b9)