New Delhi: Days after the diplomatic row between India and Maldives began, the island country’s President Muizzu said on Saturday that no country had the right to “bully” his nation.
Addressing a press conference Muizzu said without naming any country, “We may be small, but that doesn’t give you the licence to bully us.”
The Maldivian President made the statement after his just completed five-day visit to China. “Though we have small islands in this ocean, we have a vast exclusive economic zone of 900,000 square km. Maldives is one of the countries with the biggest share of this ocean,” he further told the media.
In an apparent jibe at India, he said, “This ocean does not belong to a specific country. This (Indian) Ocean also belongs to all countries situated in it”.
According to the Maldives Sun Online portal, he was quoted as saying, “We aren’t in anyone’s backyard. We are an independent and sovereign state.”
During his visit to China, Muizzu held talks with President Xi Jinping after which the two countries signed 20 agreements. “The two sides agree to continue firmly supporting each other in safeguarding their respective core interests,” said a joint statement issued at the end of Muizzu’s talks with the top Chinese leaders.
“China firmly supports the Maldives in upholding its national sovereignty, independence and national dignity, respects and supports the Maldives’ exploration of a development path that suits its national conditions, and firmly opposes external interference in the internal affairs of the Maldives,” the statement said, without referring to any country.
