The Maldives political crisis which began in early February 2018, threatened the complex system of interstate relations existing in the Indian Ocean. For the first time in the recent history the Maldivian authorities turned for help not to the traditional patron New Delhi, but to Beijing. The analysis of the crisis, its roots and possible consequences, makes it possible to clarify the motives of the actions of the Indian and Chinese political elites, to predict the further steps of China and India in the Indian Ocean region, as well as the dynamics of the future relations between Beijing and New Delhi.