Parliament's 241 Committee has decided to have a closed meeting with Defence Minister Ghassan to deliberate on the issue of Indian Coastguard boarding local fishing vessels which were within the Maldives' EEZ.
Parliament's 241 Committee has decided that it's meeting to which Minister of Defence Mohamed Ghassan Maumoon has been summoned will be held closed.
Minister Ghassan is being summoned to be held answerable on the matter of Indian Coastguard having boarded local fishing vessels which were engaged in fishing within the Maldives' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
The Defence Ministry has also sent a letter regarding the matter to the committee. The Committee decided to close the meeting related to the letter and keep the discussions confidential.
Three vessels which were fishing in the northern seas of Maldives were stopped and boarded by armed Indian Coastguard officers at the end of January.
In a statement released after the incidents, MNDF confirmed that the foreign troops who boarded the vessels are members of the Boarding Teams of Indian Coastguard Ship 246 and Indian Coastguard Ship 253.
The Ministry stated at the time that the government had officially requested the Government of India to provide details of their justification for Indian military personnel to have boarded and conducted an operation on, without any coordination with any Maldivian authorities and against the Law of the Sea Convention, a number of Maldivian vessels engaged in fishing in the country's own EEZ.
No official response has been reported to have been received from the Indian government as of yet.
Parliament decided to summon the Defence Minister regarding this incident and the government's response.
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