NEW DELHI – A Maldives minister in President Abdulla Yameen’s government,had reportedly told a group of visiting Indian reporters, “Why haven’t wegone into the Kashmir issue…And asked to be (an) intermediary? Becausethey are internal matters…India should stay away from our issue.
“We are independent and capable of dealing with the situation. If we needhelp, we will let India know.”
Reacting sharply, Indian officials had termed the remarks as “unfortunate”.
Asserting that the two situations were not comparable, a senior officialhad said, “While the situation in Kashmir is due tostate(Pakistan)-sponsored terrorism, the other is due to subversion ofdemocracy.”
Currently, India and Maldives have a strained relationship that has beencaused by number of issues, including the signing of an FTA betweenMaldives and China amidst increasing proximity between Male and Beijing,and imposition of emergency by the Yameen government.
On why there was an “environment of mistrust” between India and Maldives,two neighbours that were once very close, the envoy said that though therewas an understanding that there were issues which need to be resolved, butlack of engagement was responsible for current state of affairs.
“The need now is to start with a clean slate and let bygones be bygones,”the envoy stressed, while making a strong pitch for a high-level visit fromIndia. “It will make a lot of difference.”
The Maldivian President has visited India twice apart from visits by otherleaders, including the Maldivian foreign minster, he noted.
Mohamed also described India’s strong statement on emergency situation inMaldives as “disappointing”.
While the initial reaction, including the travel advisory was expected, butthe fourth statement from New Delhi was not expected and Maldives'”displeasure” was conveyed to the Indian side, he said.
The Ministry of External Affairs, in a statement, had said, “We are deeplydismayed that the Government of Maldives has extended the State ofEmergency for a further 30 days.
The manner in which the extension of the State of Emergency was approved bythe Majlis in contravention of the Constitution of Maldives is also amatter of concern.”
India has also been asserting that it was important to ensure that alldemocratic institutions in Maldives are allowed to function in a fair andtransparent manner in accordance with the Constitution.