Male to ease visa curbs ahead of president Yameen"s visit to India

India has already indicated its level of comfort in dealing with Yameen and key members of his cabinet including Foreign and Defence. Delhi had hosted Yameen (half-brother of former President M A Gayoom) twice and Foreign Minister Dunya Maumoon and Defence and National Security Minister Colonel (Rtd) Mohamed Nazim in the run-up to the polls. Delhi is hopeful that its robust defence cooperation with Maldives will continue under the new regime. Nazim who held the same portfolio in the last government has worked closely with India’s security establishment. Dunya was MoS Foreign Affairs in the previous Md. Waheed-led government.

India is helping Maldives to set up a network of ground radars on all its 26 atolls as well as bolstering cooperation in the fields of military training, hydrography, maritime patrol and surveillance.

Describing Maldives as not only an ‘old’ but a ‘good’ friend of India, Ali stressed that President Yameen has assured his firm commitment to advance ties with India in all areas. “The government of Maldives and the Indian government have already discussed several issues of mutual interest, including the joint talks on easing consular and visa restrictions for the benefit of travellers between the two countries, healthcare, defense cooperation, human resource development and bilateral high-level ties,” Ali pointed out. It may be recalled that Yameen won the presidential elections by garnering 51.60 percent of the vote cast in the second and final runoff of the election held on November 16. His rival and former President Nasheed got 48.61 percent of the vote. There were earlier fears in Delhi that if elections were further delayed it would create political vacuum and instability in the strategically located country.

One area that will be on the agenda of discussions during Yameen’s visit will be protection of Indian investments in Maldives in the light of Waheed government’s decision to cancel contract last December for modernising the Male Ibrahim Nasir International Airport after a legal battle fought in a Singapore court. The matter is still sub judice in the Singapore court.

The GMR Group was to invest $500 million in the project – the largest FDI investment by any company in the country and the cancellation of contract was a setback for India. But Ali felt said that the new government believes that the cancellation of GMR agreement by the previous government will not affect the relation between the Indian government and the present government.

“The government will not focus only on a single company’s interest. The government of Maldives believes that there should be equal opportunities for individuals, business authorities etc to fight against their rights and the government fully respects international laws and treaties.” But is not GMR alone whose investments faced trouble in the archipelago. The Tata housing project also faced troubles in Maldives under the Waheed regime.

Male to ease visa curbs ahead of president Yameen"s visit to India