AHMED AZAAN
MALE : The alleged draft Agreement between Maldives and India was to develop the coast guard harbor of Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) along with a dockyard upon completion of the project at a strategic location of Maldives UthuruThilaFalhu (UTF).
Maldives signed the USD 50 million credit line agreement for the defense project between the state of the Maldives and the Export and Import Bank of India on 21st February 2021 during the official visit of the external affairs Minister of India S. Jaishankar to the Maldives.
The agreement was signed by Defense Minister Mariya Ahmed Didi and Minister of External Affairs of India Dr. S. Jaishankar.
The suspected draft agreement emerged after Maldives Press made numerous allegations about the UTF agreement, claiming that the agreement is entangled with a threat to Maldives sovereignty.
Maldives Online media outlet published what it claimed in the copy of the draft agreement which reads the under the agreement it permitted the stationing of Indian Military personal at UTF. The news outlet declared that the alleged copy was provided by a senior officer of the MNDF on condition of anonymity. Former Home Minister Umar Naseer also shared screenshots of the agreement on his Facebook account, shortly after the news was publicized.
Maldivian government has to do damage control after the news outlet and an opposition politician leaked the suspected draft of the bilateral agreement with India on the development of a coast guard facility at a strategically located island UthuruThilaFalhu. Maldivian military denounced the news report as fake. The defense ministry issued a press release that reads, it will not allow for any decision which may threaten the safety of the Maldivian people or the freedom and the sovereignty of the nation. MNDF also issued advisory asking citizens to refrain from circulating illegitimate documents that might hinder Maldives’ relationships with neighboring countries.
However, there was public uproar over the matter, with many calling for the agreement to be made public, or at the very least to a parliament committee, as required by the Maldivian constitution. Per the Maldivian constitution, a committee of the People’s Majilis shall be established to exercise continuing oversight of the operations of the security services. The committee shall include representation from all the different political parties within the People’s Majlis.
Under section 251 (a) of the constitution no foreign party, shall own or be given ownership of any part of the territory of the Maldives. under the same section (c) reads that no part of the territory of the Maldives shall be used for foreign Military purposes without the approval of the majority of the total membership of the people’s Majilis.
The public sentiments were expressed in social media calling the Indian Military out from the region. The citizens also staged various protests in the capital city, Male’ calling for the immediate removal of the Indian military personnel from the nation. They also urged the ruling party, MDP, which has a supermajority in parliament, to look into the matter to see if the agreement contains any provision that allows Indian Military personnel presence in the region.
Despite many calls, ruling party’s MPs were seen defending the government’s decision not to reveal the agreement. The ruling party’s leader, Mohamed Nasheed, has also voiced firm opposition to disclosing the agreement, including to a parliamentary committee. The Maldives parliament also debated the topic after an opposition politician submitted an emergency motion against the agreement. Fifty-one MPs supported the demand for a parliamentary debate, which included 48 ruling party lawmakers. There was no significant progress over the matter with in the parliament.
The motion submitted by opposition parliamentarian and former defense minister Adam Shareef Umar requesting that a copy of the agreement be submitted to the parliament’s 241 committee was also rejected, infringing on the MDP’s parliamentary supermajority.
The Maldives National Defense Force facilitated a press conference to address the agreement’s concerns as public discontent escalated and the government was harshly criticized. The press conference was attended by top MNDF officials and MNDF leadership members.
In response to press queries, Brigadier General Abdulla Shamaal said that the authority would not allow any media or person to distribute false information defaming the authority. He also claimed that the agreement was signed after consultations and after India was selected as the most appropriate party to build the planned coast guard harbor and dockyard. He also emphasized the importance of a coast guard harbor and a dockyard at UTF.
When asked about the agreement duration, Vice Chief of Defense Force Brigadier General Abdul Raheem Abdul Latheef stated that the development of the harbor and dockyard must be completed within three years. However, under the terms of the agreement, technical experts will be permitted to remain at the UTF for a maximum of 15 years. He did not, indeed, explain why the so-called “technical experts” were able to remain stationed for 15 years after the work is performed.
Brig. Gen. Abdur Raheem also declared that the same information was disclosed to the public before. Be that as it may it is worth noting that, Brig. Gen. Abdul Latheef had not said that the duration of the agreement was 15 years during the 21 February 2021 news conference that had been held after the signing of the UTF agreement. On that occasion, he had only said that development would take 3 years and that the Indians would stay for any period of time requested by the MNDF.(Writer is a Maldivian journalist)
