Maldives welcomes India's role, Waheed to visit New Delhi
(deccanherald ): India Tuesday conveyed to the Maldives the need for pushing
reconciliation in the archipelago nation even as Male announced that President
Mohammed Waheed Hasan will be coming to New Delhi next month.
External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna Tuesday
held talks in New Delhi with his Maldivian counterpart Abdul Samad Abdulla who
updated Krishna on the evolving situation and the efforts of the new government
to stabilise the country that depend heavily on tourism revenues.
As this was the first meeting between the two
foreign ministers, Abdualla gave a detailed account of the chain of events that
led to the transfer of power in the Maldives Feb 7, which some have decried as a
coup.
He also updated India on the Commission of
Enquiry appointed by the Maldives government to look into the circumstances
surrounding the transfer of power, said official sources.
In his talks, Krishna stressed that India has an
abiding interest in ensuring peace and stability in Maldives and had been happy
to use its good offices to facilitate forward movement on the political impasse
in Maldives, said the sources.
He stressed that while India is happy to assist
in every possible way, it expects all parties, including those supporting the
government, to contribute to our sincere efforts to bringing about peace and
stability in Maldives.
Abdulla said that all parties in Maldives
welcomed India's facilitation.
He also thanked India for release of $20 million
of the US$ 100 million Standby Credit Facility to Maldives and rolling over the
$50 million in Treasury Bonds with the State Bank of India by one year.
The Maldivian minister assured that India's
commercial interests in the island nation was safe when Krishna raised the issue
and underlined the the need to maintain an investor friendly climate to continue
attracting quality investments. Abdulla "assured that all existing agreements
will be honoured".
In Male, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs
Dhunya Maumoon announced that Waheed will travel to India next month. She,
however, did not give the date for the visit.
The president will hold with the Indian leaders
on improving bilateral ties, was all she would say.
The announcement came soon after the former
president Mohamed Nasheed said he was planning to visit India mid-April.
In early March, India had helped broker a deal
among Maldives' political parties which envisaged a broad consensus for early
elections in a "quick time frame" and a growing recognition of New Delhi's role
as a facilitator in resolving the political crisis in the Indian Ocean island
nation.