The Maldivian government has actively been suppressing the Indian diplomatic mission in the country and ‘has crossed all limits’, analyst and author Rajeev Sharma has said.
In a piece published by Indian newspaper The Quint, Sharma speaks about the Maldives’ recent decision to restrict its own local government councils and mistreatment of the Indian mission.
The Home Ministry, and Local Government Authority, last week ordered local councils to refrain from meeting any diplomats or foreign officials without permission.
The decision was made while Indian Ambassador Akhilesh Mishra was touring Gaafu Alif Atoll, the council of which was suspended in its entirety for meeting with him.
Sharma attached a tweet from Ahmed Fuad, one of the council members, who described the government’s decision as an ‘obstruction to democracy’ and to the principle of checks and balances.
A sentiment that has been echoed by British Ambassador James Dauris, who was also in the country at the time, and US Ambassador Atul Keshap.
Sharma, a revered journalist who has been covering policy and strategic affairs for over 'two decades', goes on to say that all phone lines at the Indian embassy in the Maldives have been tapped.
“All landline phones of the Indian embassy and mobile phones of all Indian diplomats, including Mishra, have been compromised. No Maldivian government has dared to do this to India ever before” Sharma said.
Further adding to his rhetoric that the Maldives has created an ‘India-versus-China’ situation in the region, Sharma said that Chinese diplomats have not been subject to such monitoring.
Sharma said that the Indian government had responded to the ‘caged-parrot’ perspective of Indian diplomats in the Maldives is inaccurate.
The article comes less than a week after Raveesh Kumar, official spokesperson of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, held a press conference expressing concern over the free trade agreement Maldives signed with China.
Kumar, who also dispelled speculation that India has been provoked by a recent article published by news outlet Vaguthu criticizing India, said he hopes Maldives would maintain its ‘India-first’ diplomatic policy.
