Trump, Modi discuss Myanmar, Maldives

US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke by phone yesterday, discussing topics including the political crisis in the Maldives, the war in Afghanistan and the plight of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, the White House said.

The Trump administration has launched an effort to deepen military and economic ties with India as a way to balance China's assertive posture across Asia.

The Maldives has become another arena of contest for India and China after it signed up to Beijing's Belt and Road initiative to build trade and transport links across Asia and beyond.

The embattled president of the Indian Ocean nation has sent envoys to friendly nations such as China, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to brief them on a political crisis that spurred the imposition of a state of emergency.

Trump and Modi "expressed concern about the political crisis in the Maldives and the importance of respect for democratic institutions and rule of law," the White House said in a statement.

The two leaders also addressed the plight of more than 680,000 Muslim Rohingya who have fled Myanmar since last year to Bangladesh after the Myanmar military cracked down in northern Rakhine State, amid witness reports of killings, looting and rape, in response to militant attacks on security forces.

They repeated their commitment to Afghanistan's security, the statement added.