President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu said on Saturday that even though the Maldives is a small country in size, other countries should not influence the country’s internal affairs. He said that even when developing diplomatic relations with foreign countries, those countries should not attempt to influence Maldives’ internal affairs.
He had previously accused the previous government of allowing India to interfere with Maldives’ internal affairs, while he campaigned for president.
President Muizzu further stated that although the islands of Maldives are small in size, it is spread over 900,000 kilometers, saying it is has the largest portion of the Indian Ocean from those located in it.
"This ocean is not the property of a specific country. This ocean belongs to all those who come from it, all the surrounding countries. And the part of the ocean that does not belong to any country is even bigger," he said.
While speaking to journalists outside Velana International Airport after President Muizzu’s first trip to China at President Xi Jinping’s invitation, he said the relationship between Maldives and China is an exemplary one. He said the relationship will strengthen further now that political ties have been established.
The President said the relationship between Maldives and China are built on four things. This is both countries respecting one another, to consider each other as equals even though both countries are not financially equal, to respect the right of each country to defend their territory, and to not interfere with the other country’s internal affairs.
“We are not a country that is in the backyard of another country. We are an independent nation. This territorial integrity policy is one that China respects,” he said in Dhivehi, the local language.
He said that China does not interfere with Maldives’ independence at all but accused that the former administration was in a situation that they could not “stand from one chair and sit at another” without obtaining permission from another country.
“The wrong way of interfering in internal matters should not be there in the relationship between the two countries. Under these four values, we will establish a relationship with all countries,” the President said, remarking on the relationship Maldives had with India.
Relations between the Maldives and India have been strained since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to Lakshadweep in which he posted a video promoting tourism in the region, following which three deputy ministers of Maldives criticised him with disrespect.
While India continues to be the country with the highest number of tourists to the Maldives after the COVID-19 pandemic, its citizens have been calling for a boycott of the Maldives. However, even as the issue heated up, the President's visit to China also led to discussions on increasing tourist arrivals from China to the Maldives. China, which was at the top of the country's tourist arrivals list before Covid, will be able to achieve this goal again in the next two years, he said today.
He said focused marketing efforts would be carried out to increase the number of tourists arrivals from China in the coming days.
Sign In
