Maldives hopes India will respect its sovereignty

Ahead of the first visit by President Mohamed Waheed, Maldives on Friday hoped that India will respect its sovereignty and will not play a role in the internal politics of the country.

The remarks by Maldivian Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dunya Maumoon came in the backdrop of recent statements made by former President Mohamed Nasheed during his visit in Delhi that India should coerce Maldives for early polls.

Maumoon said dispelling the "untrue perceptions" created by Nasheed and seeking guidance from the Indian leadership will be high on Waheed's agenda during his meetings from Saturday.

Setting the tone for Waheed's five-day visit, his first foreign tour after assuming power in a tumultuous political transition in February, Maumoon said, "Maldivian Presidents have always made their first trip abroad to India. And President Waheed is coming to India to.....brief them directly about the political situation in Maldives".

In an interview to PTI, she said, "I believe that India would respect our sovereignty and really does not play a role in the internal politics of the country which is why I find President's Nasheed's comments unacceptable".

Noting that with the transfer of power, the new government had faced certain difficulties including from the international community, Maumoon, 42-year-old daughter of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, said, "President Waheed will seek guidance from India and also give them a proper understanding of the situation rather than untrue perceptions that have been created by other people including President Nasheed himself."

She also ruled out the allegations by Nasheed that the entire episode was orchestrated by her father.

"....I don’t believe this was a coup. All the evidence currently points to the fact that Nasheed chose to resign but then changed his story more than 24 hours after resignation," she said underlining that Nasheed's whole existence was based on attacking President Gayoom, who ruled Maldives for 30 years (1978-2008).

Maumoon said Nasheed's "whole reason for existence and how he gained popularity is largely by attacking President Gayoom who served the country for a long time, who served the country well. So I believe he is using the same kind of argument to try and gain the support of his people."

"You should see that President Nasheed has all protection provided by the state, he has privileges and immunities, he is free to travel in the country, he is free to travel abroad and in a coup, you know things really happen in a very different manner.

"We see lot of violence, bloodshed and lot of things happen. So I think it is clear that this was not a coup," she said.

Maumoon said India was one of its "closest" friends and that the foundation of friendship was "very solid" which cannot be easily tampered with.

"India has been one of our closest friends in the international world and helped us in many areas. It has been one of our strongest bilateral partners," she said.

In February, Waheed, who was Nasheed’s Vice President, took over as President following a deepening political crisis.

Nasheed had resigned on February 7 and nearly 24 hours later claimed there was a coup, a charge denied by the current regime.

Since then Nasheed has issued various statements alleging that India will lose out under the new regime.

"Our relations with India, we believe are stronger based on very solid foundations and cannot be easily tampered by comments from President Nasheed," she said.

Asked about fears expressed by Nasheed that China's relations with Maldives will grow stronger, Maumoon said, Nasheed makes such statements to create problems.

"Much of what he says is in order to create problems with certain relationships. We have close ties with China and we would be developing those as well but I think our relationship with India is very unique due to our geography and our combined history. I think it is very much a different relationship in that regard," she asserted.