*NEW DELHI: *Maldives has again snubbed India that had asked it to addressconcerns expressed by the international community, declaring that publicstatements made “without genuine regard to facts and ground realities” werenot helpful.
President Abdulla Yameen’s government rejected the demand to implement theSupreme Court verdict that had quashed convictions against nine oppositionleaders and ordered release of the political leaders.
President Yameen had responded to the 1 February court ruling by imposing astate of Emergency and sending soldiers to storm the top court and arrestthe judges. The Emergency was lifted 45 days later but only aftergovernment was seen to have got a much-diminished Supreme Court to nullifythe controversial judgment.
India welcomed the move to lift Emergency but listed the steps that thetiny island nation, which has a population of 4.2 lakhs, should take.
In response today, Maldives Foreign Ministry said it had “no legal mandateto implement the Supreme Court Order” as parts of the verdict had beennullified or suspended by the top court. This is the second time in a monththat Maldives has snubbed India. It had earlier called India questioningthe extension of Emergency as “a clear distortion of facts”.
The Indian Ocean island chain also reiterated that India, which has beenreceiving appeals for intervention from Maldives opposition leaders, tosteer clear. Exiled former president Mohamed Nasheed had sought India’smilitary intervention soon after Emergency was imposed but New Delhi wasreluctant to go that far.
“The recent political developments is an internal political matter andtherefore should remain as a matter to be resolved internally,” Friday’sstatement by Maldives Foreign Ministry said.
It is a message over the last few weeks from Maldives as well as China,which is seen to be close to President Yameen’s regime and aggressivelyexpand its influence in the Indian Ocean region.
Maldives, located near key shipping lanes, has assumed greater importanceto China after Beijing began building political and economic ties as partof its so-called “String of Pearls” strategy to build a network of ports inthe Indian Ocean region.
This is something that has made India uneasy. Last year, Maldives hadquietly signed a free trade pact with China that New Delhi declared wasagainst its stated policy of “India First”.