The President of Indian National Congress Rahul Gandhi Thursday weighed in on India-Maldives relations, saying that the Indian foreign service was to blame for the deteriorating relationship between the two neighbouring countries.
Gandhi took to Twitter to criticise the Indian government’s foreign policy, sourcing an article published on ‘The Hindu’ about recent difficulties faced by Indian citizens in obtaining work permits to the Maldives.
Maldives, once one of our closest allies & beneficiary of massive aid, is cancelling Indian work visas & putting up “Not Hiring Indians” signs. This happens when foreign policy becomes about photo ops & "no agenda meetings" instead of strategic intent. https://t.co/rk1csSLTT1
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) June 14, 2018
The article claimed that the Maldivian authorities held up work permits for Indian citizens, costing them employment opportunities to work in premier resorts in the country.
Further, it also raised concerns about some resorts explicitly advertising that “Indians need not apply”, since they would not be granted a work permit anyway.
India-Maldives relations began to dwindle in 2015 after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi cancelled an official visit to the Maldives, after former President Mohamed Nasheed was sentenced to 13-years of imprisonment on terrorism charges. Incumbent President Abdulla Yameen’s strong economic ties with China is also of concern to India since Maldives is in its ‘backyard’.
More recently, the relations between the two countries worsened after India criticised the president’s decision to enforce a 45-day state of emergency, and called on the Maldivian government to enforce the landmark Supreme Court’s ruling on February 1 to free all political prisoners.
While Indian citizens are allegedly being denied work permits to the Maldives, ruling Progressive Party of Maldives’ (PPM) parliamentary group leader and Villimale MP Ahmed Nihan earlier this month claimed that he was denied entry to the country when he travelled to Chennai for a medical check-up.
He said that he was held at the airport for four hours before the immigration officers had asked him to leave on the next available flight.
The Maldivian Embassy in India has officially filed the matter at the Indian foreign ministry; however India is yet to respond.
The Maldivian Ambassador to India Ahmed Mohamed also claimed that a lot of Maldivian citizens were denied visas to enter India and were asked to return to Maldives at the airport. He said that he believed these were genuine mistakes and that it had nothing to do with the recent tensions between the two countries.
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