After tensions spiked between India and Maldives last week, Male seems to be trying to make amends by reaching out to Delhi to organise a high-level bilateral visit, Times of India reported.
According to the TOI report, the details of the meeting, which is expected early next month, are being worked out.
In a report for The Quint, on 22 December, strategic analyst Rajeev Sharma wrote about how the Maldives government, headed by President Yameen Abdul Gayoom, had banned local officials from hosting foreign diplomats without prior permission. The Male government also suspended three local councilors for meeting Indian ambassador to Maldives Akhilesh Mishra.
Sharma also wrote about the Yameen government’s move to allegedly compromise all landline phones of the Indian embassy in Male and mobile phones of all Indian diplomats, including Mishra. Read the full article here.
In an earlier report for The Quint, Sharma pointed out that the tension comes at a time when the Maldives government has signed its first-ever Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China. Maldives was supposed to sign a similar pact with India but plans failed to take off. Read the full article here.
According to the TOI report, tensions peaked following an editorial in a local Maldives daily, that described PM Modi as “a Hindu extremist who is anti-Muslim”. In an official statement, President Yameen had distanced his government from the editorial and had said that India was Maldives’ "closest friend".
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