New Delhi: A Maldives Jumhooree Party (JP) leader, Qasim Ibrahim, has urged Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu to formally apologise to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people of India.
“Regarding any country, especially a neighbouring one, we shouldn’t speak in a way that affects the relationship. We have an obligation to our state that must be considered. President Solih did consider this obligation and issued a Presidential Decree banning the “India Out” campaign. Now, Yameen (former president Abdulla Yameen) is questioning why Muizzu, who participated with him in the India Out New, has not nullified the Presidential Decree,” he said, according to news agency ANI.
He added, “The Decree should not be nullified, as it would only result in a loss to the nation. That cannot be done. I would tell Muizzu that it shouldn’t be done. Also, I call on President Muizzu to formally apologise to the Indian government and Prime Minister Modi regarding his remarks after the China trip.”
Earlier last year, then Maldives President Ibrahim Solih signed a decree stating that the opposition’s ‘India Out’ campaign is a “threat to national security”. This allows security agencies to take down campaign banners and provides constitutional cover to take action against opposition parties.
The opposition, led by former president Abdulla Yameen of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) was spearheading an ‘India Out’ campaign for over the last year propagating the unproven claim that Indian military officers stationed in the Indian Ocean island nation are a violation of Maldives’ sovereignty.
The campaign’s implicit target was then Maldivian President Solih and the Maldivian Democratic Party, both perceived as close to India.
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