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Opposition: Yameen will terminate all agreements with India if elected

Lamya Abdulla
20 March 2022, MVT 14:11
Former President Abdulla Yameen and PPM/PNC leaders at Lhaviyani Naifaru for "India Out" campaign on Saturday, March 19 -- Photo: PPM
Lamya Abdulla
20 March 2022, MVT 14:11

Opposition said on Saturday that once former President Abdulla Yameen wins the presidential election of 2023, he will publish the agreements the current administration has made with India to the public and terminate them.

In "India Out" campaign events held on Lhaviyani Naifaru by opposition coalition Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and People's National Congress (PNC), Parliament Member for Naifaru Constituency Ahmed Shiyam said Yameen is the one capable of ensuring Maldives is out of India's influence. He said once Yameen is elected into presidency in 2023 he will publish the agreements publicly and will cancel them as well.

He said if their party wins the election, they will send all agreements made between Maldives and India to the parliament. If they discover they have anything that may be detrimental to Maldives, they will terminate them.

Shiyam noted during the previous administration, when dealing with major agreements that would affect the people of the country, PPM had always sent their agreements to parliament. He said the current administration fails to do this.

Supporting Shiyam's statements, Yameen said he would work on disclosing the details and voiding the agreements if he is elected.

Yameen said there was no need to form relations with India if it would result in Maldives to lose its independence. He urged the people of Lhaviyani Atoll, where President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih is from, to pressure the current administration into giving up the details of these agreements.

He said that senior government officials will be visiting the island soon since the presidential election is approaching. His called out to his supporters, who took to the streets of the island on Saturday for the "India Out" campaign, to meet them when they arrive.

"This group should come out, this group should come out and meet them and demand answers as to why there are Indian military personnel in Maldives, before they do anything else," Yameen said.

"If they can't give an answer, say you do not want to listen to anything else they have to say."

The opposition has expressed concern over three agreements signed by the Maldivian government with India. They refer to one about drawing underwater maps of Maldives, the agreement to operate Dornier aircrafts, and the agreement to develop a port in North Thilafalhu.

Yameen reiterated that Indian government has caused great distress to Maldivians and that there was no need to make agreements with such a nation. When he assumes office he would terminate all agreements regardless of whether they were about skill building or ones about culture.

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