Maldives President talks Chinese lingo
| Date :14-Jan-2024 |
BEIJING/MALE,
RETURNING home after a five-day high-profile state visit to China, Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu on Saturday said that his island nation may be small but it doesn’t give other countries the licence to “bully us” amid a diplomatic row with India. The diplomatic row with India erupted after derogatory social media posts by three of his Ministers against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “We may be small but this doesn’t give them the license to bully us,” Muizzu, who is regarded as a pro-China leader, said without naming any country. “Though we have small islands in this ocean, we have a vast exclusive economic zone of 9,00,000 square km. Maldives is one of the countries with the biggest share of this ocean,” he told the media on his arrival from China after concluding the state visit, the first after assuming office in November last year. “This ocean does not belong to a specific country. This (Indian) Ocean also belongs to all countries situated in it,” he said, in an apparent jibe at India. “We aren’t in anyone’s backyard. We are an independent and sovereign state,” he was quoted as saying by the Maldives Sun Online portal.
During his visit to China, Muizzu held talks with President Xi Jinping after which the two countries signed 20 agreements. “The two sides agree to continue firmly supporting each other in safeguarding their respective core interests,” said a joint statement issued at the end of Muizzu’s talks with the top Chinese leaders. “China firmly supports the Maldives in upholding its national sovereignty, independence and national dignity, respects and supports the Maldives’ exploration of a development path that suits its national conditions, and firmly opposes external interference in the internal affairs of the Maldives,” the statement said, without referring to any country. In his media briefing in Male, Muizzu said China has granted USD 130 million in assistance for his country. Muizzu said the bulk of the USD 130 million assistance will be spent on redeveloping the roads in Male, where the mayor election was held on Saturday. In a setback to Muizzu, the pro-India opposition Maldivian Democratic Party secured a landslide victory in the Male’s Mayoral election.
Muizzu was the former Mayor of the capital city before getting elected to the Presidency in November last year. “That is approximately USD 130 million in grants. This will be spent on developmental projects. The biggest spending will be on the development of the roads of Male,” he was quoted as saying by local news portal Sun Online. Also, China’s Ambassador to Maldives Wang Lixin said Maldives will receive support for more development projects from Beijing if they align with President Xi’s initiatives. Wang, who accompanied Muizzu on his visit to China, said there are three key factors to the strong relations between Maldives and China. “The first and most important factor is mutual political trust. The second factor is to strengthen the docking of President Xi’s initiatives and the national development strategy of President Muizzu. And with this docking, I think we can decide on more projects that benefit the Maldivian people,” she said. Wang said that the third one is to follow the principle of extensive consultation, joint construction, and also shared benefits. “I think that with these three key factors, we will have a very fruitful and sustainable cooperation in the future,” she said.