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Maldives envoy says 'all good' with India as he reaches Parliament
Jaishankar commented on Maldives and said every neighbourhood as problems but at the end of the day, neighbours need each other.
High commissioner of Maldives Ibrahim Shaheeb on Wednesday said everything is good between India and the Maldives -- as he reached Parliament ahead of the Budget session. The comment came amid a diplomatic row between New Delhi and Male over PM Modi's visit to Lakshadweep. Soon after the row, political turmoil followed in Maldives as the opposition in Maldives asked president Mohamed Muizzu to apologise to India.
"All good," the envoy said as he was asked to comment on the present situation between India and the Maldives.
On Tuesday, external affairs minister S Jaishankar commented on the India-Maldives relationship and said every neighbourhood has problems but neighbours ultimately need each other. "Every country has problems in its neighbourhood. It is never as good as they say it is. It is never as bad as they say it is. There will be problems. Our job is to anticipate, assess, respond. At the end of the day, neighbours have relationships with each other. At the end of the day, neighbours need each other. History and geography are very powerful forces. There is no escape from that," Jaishankar said.
India drops to 5th position on Maldives' top 10 tourism markets amid diplomatic row, China at 3
After the election of Muizzu, the India-Maldives relationship took a hit because of Muizzu's pro-China stance. Muizzu asked India to withdraw its military personnel present in the island; Muizzu also visited China before India -- breaking a tradition.
The India-Maldives row started with social media attacks following PM Modi's visit to Lakshadweep which was misinterpreted by Maldivian politicians as a move to drive away tourists from Maldives. While the social media fight went on, Muizzu on his China visit said, "We may be small but this doesn't give them the license to bully us.”
Muizzu also said he would end Maldives' dependence on India in various sectors including medical treatment.
Opposition Jumhoori Party leader Gasuim Ibrahim urged Muizzu to formally apologise to India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and seek "diplomatic reconciliation" to mend bilateral relations. This is not the first time that Muizzu has been asked to mend ways with India. On January 24, calling India the “most long-standing ally,” the MDP and the Democrats expressed concern about the Muizzu government’s “anti-India stance.”
