"Hope President Muizzu tries to maintain age old relationship with India": Maldivian MP

New Delhi: Maldivian Member of Parliament for South Galolhu constituency, Meekail Nasym, has expressed hope that Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu acknowledges the geographical significance that New Delhi and Male hold for each other and tries to maintain the age-old relationship between the two nations.
Speaking to ANI, Meekail Nasym said that Muizzu has realised that his foreign policy is not working. He said that Muizzu was unable to source aid from China and the Middle East and did not receive any budget support that he had promised the people of Maldives.
His comments came against the backdrop of Mohamed Muizzu thanking India for its support of the island nation in easing its debt repayment, and also affirming hope that New Delhi and Male would forge stronger ties and sign a free trade agreement.
Asked about his reaction on Muizzu's statement, Nasym said, "I think it will take time and a long time for our ties to reach normalcy. But I think it's good that the president has come to realize finally that his foreign policy wasn't working. He had tried earlier to source aid from the Middle East and as well as China, but he wasn't able to. get any of the budget support that he had been promising the Maldivian people that he would get."
"So, I think this was finally a very desperate attempt and a very ironic, I would say that he mentioned all of these things in his speech and it wasn't long after his parliament members had been saying that India had played a major role in compromising the sovereignty of the Maldives. And a few days later, he goes on and says this. So I find his foreign policy to be quite unstable. And I hope that he maintains on this path and finally acknowledges the geographical significance we hold for each other - India and the Maldives. And I hope that he tries to maintain the age-old relationship that we have had, regardless of who was in power in both the countries," he added.
He affirmed hope that India and the Maldives would sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and called it necessary for the Maldivian economy. He stressed that it is important that Maldives reduce its expenditure locally when asking for assistance from other nations in reviving the country's economy.
On being asked about the Maldivian President's statement that the government was in talks with India on an FTA, Meekail Nasym said, "I hope it works out because I think it's necessary for the Maldivian economy. And looking at the very volatile exchange rate fluctuation that we are having right now, I think it's important for us to take measures. And I think it's also important when dealing with foreign countries and asking them for assistance in reviving our economy."
"I think it's important to show that we are sincere about it and we are also cutting down on our expenditure locally, but sadly that is not to be seen. We have seen the complete opposite. We have seen that the government has been hiring unprecedented numbers of political appointees whose payroll costs, the state every year and I think that what we do locally has to match what we ask for internationally and we aren't able to see that with the current government and that's my fear," he added.
While addressing the official Independence Day function in the Maldives on Friday, Muizzu commended the administration's foreign policy, celebrating eight months of 'diplomatic success,' according to the Maldives President's Office.
He expressed gratitude to India and China for their support in easing the Maldives' debt repayment, thereby enabling the country to ensure economic sovereignty.
Emphasising the need to alleviate the local shortages of US dollars, he said that the Maldives government is negotiating currency swap agreements with both New Delhi and Beijing.
The Maldives President also announced that his administration is negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United Kingdom and expressed hope to reach a similar agreement with India.
Shortly after he was sworn in, President Muizzu stirred bilateral tensions by demanding the removal of approximately 88 Indian military personnel from the Maldives. These personnel were repatriated from three aviation platforms and replaced by Indian civilians by the May 10 deadline set by President Muizzu.
Recently, Muizzu's government in the Maldives took a reconciliatory tone after ties between the two nations soured, leading to a diplomatic row in January after three Maldivian deputy ministers made derogatory comments against Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his pictures from the visit to Lakshadweep.
PM Modi had called for the Indian island cluster to be developed as a destination for beach tourism and promotion of domestic tourism. The matter snowballed into a major diplomatic row, with New Delhi summoning the Maldivian envoy and registering a strong protest against the viral posts. Later, the three deputy ministers were suspended.
Since January, many efforts have been undertaken by the Muizzu-led government in order to restore the relationship, which includes several high-level visits, including the President himself coming to India for the swearing-in ceremony of the Indian Prime Minister or the visit of the Maldivian Foreign Minister.
Earlier this year, Muizzu sought debt relief measures in the repayment of the hefty loans taken from the country over consecutive governments. He even stated that India will continue to remain the Maldives' "closest ally" and emphasised that there was no question about it. The loan amount owed by the Maldives to India by the end of last year stood at 6.2 billion Maldivian Rufiyaa, according to Maldives-based The Edition.