2024-03-23 06:45:51
Male: Following his anti-India rhetoric, Maldivian President Mohammed Muizzu adopted a conciliatory stance, saying India would remain a close ally of his country. He urged India to provide debt relief to Maldives. By the end of last year, Maldives owed India approximately US$409 million. Since taking oath as President in November last year, pro-China Maldivian leader Muizzu had adopted a tough stance towards India and demanded that Indian military personnel operating three aviation platforms be sent back from their country by May 10. .
Muizzu praised India
In his first interview with local media on Thursday after assuming office, Muizzu said India played a key role in providing aid to the Maldives and has implemented the largest number of projects. According to the news of Maldives news portal ‘Edition.MV’, Muizzu said that India will remain a close ally of Maldives and there is no doubt about it. India has been providing humanitarian and medical services to the people of Maldives for the last few years through two helicopters and one Dornier aircraft.
Muizzu demands debt relief from India
Muizzu urged India to include debt relief measures for Maldives in repayment of huge loans taken by the governments. Muizzu’s positive comments towards India come ahead of the parliamentary elections to be held in Maldives in mid-April. He said that Maldives has taken large scale loans from India. “He is currently in discussion with the Government of India to explore options to repay the loan as per the economic capabilities of Maldives,” he said.
Claimed to accelerate Indian projects
Referring to his discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Dubai on the sidelines of the COP28 summit in Dubai in December 2023, Muizzu said, “I also told Prime Minister Modi during our meeting that I do not intend to stop any project.” Not there. Instead, I had expressed my desire to accelerate them.
Muizzu said this on the return of Indian military personnel
Responding to a question about Indian military personnel, Muizzu described it as the “single matter of dispute” that has arisen with India regarding the Indian military presence in Maldives and said that India has also accepted this fact. And has agreed to withdraw the military personnel. He said, “It is not right to reject or ignore the aid given from one country to another.” He claimed that he did not take any such step or make any such statement which could harm the relations between the two countries. There was tension in the relationship. Muizzu said his government worked to find sensible solutions through discussions to deal with the issue of Indian Army in Maldives.