India remains first, won’t allow China to ‘grab’ land, says ex-Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed

Former President and Maldives Speaker from Maldives Mohameda Nasheed said that his country would always follow the ‘First India’ policy, and would not allow China to continue the “Land Trap and Debt Trap” plan, which had caused a large debt for the island state.

“Maldives want a closer relationship with India. I am very sure of that. I will not say this because I am a politician, I will not say anything that won’t give me more votes. I am very sure that we can find a closer relationship that is beneficial to the two countries, “he said in a lecture moderated by former Foreign Minister Shyam Suggestions here on Tuesday night.Nasheed claimed that the previous Maldives government, led by former President Abdulla Yameen, placed unprecedented forces at the hands of Chinese government-owned companies through infrastructure projects that had placed the island state under massive debt burden.

China wants to make autocracy and eliminate democracy from the Maldives, make dictatorship and then do whatever they want … More than 70 percent of the Maldives debt is currently owned by China … This will provide economic and political strength that has never happened before China has never happened before the Maldives, “he said.

Nasheed’s statement came when Yameen, who is now in the opposition, has carried out the ‘Indian out’ or ‘Military India Military’ campaign since 2021, when the country’s Supreme Court canceled its decision in a corruption case.

Yameen, who was seen as the President of Maldives who was supported by China, was overthrown from power in 2018 and was replaced by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih from the Democratic Party Maldives (MDP). However, Yameen has now returned, and runs a hard anti-India campaign that has been banned by the ruling MDP.

According to Nasheed, the Maldives government under President Solih has issued a decision where such campaigns will not be permitted and MDP plans to issue strong laws against him.

We want to make laws that will allow the authorities to define what is freedom of speech, “he said, adding that this would be intended to have a friendly relationship with neighboring countries.

During the external affairs of Minister S. Jaisankar a visit to Malé last month, President Solih has also convinced him that the island country will continue to follow. According to Nasheed, even though the MDP government had revoked all the actions and laws approved by the Yameen Yameen regime gave China forces to call shots there, Beijing would continue to have a lot of shake in the Maldives because the country was under the large debt of China.

China’s interest in the Maldives grows in the context of the initiative ‘One Belt One Road’. Maldives is not a small island country. This is a large sea country. Maldives is targeted because of its large sea space, “he said.

We revoke all laws that facilitate land seizure. But there is no real reality that has changed. A large number of infrastructure projects have been given to Chinese government -owned companies. They are very expensive. China, I believe, intentionally increased project prices so that the business plan will fail and we will be trapped in the debt, “Nasheed further said, adding that his country had also canceled a free trade agreement signed with China under the Yameen regime.

He called the current economic crisis in neighboring Sri Lanka as “Classic Cases of Debt Trap”.