"SOFA agreement does not involve establishing a military base"

Defence Minister Colonel (Rtd) Mohamed Nazim has refuted the claims by a local website that a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) would allow the United States to establish a military base in the Maldives.

A local online blog dhivehisitee.com recently released scans of document claiming to be a draft copy of a Status of Forces Agreement to be signed by Maldives and the United States.

Defence Minister Nazim acknowledged that the United States has in fact proposed a SOFA agreement to the Maldives, but said that the government has not yet made a decision on the matter.

“SOFA is an agreement that allows US military trainings to be conducted in different countries. It does not involve establishing a base. They have not proposed to establish a base, and the government has not decided on the SOFA agreement,” said Nazim.

The documents leaked by the local blog claims that the agreement will allow US military ships and air crafts to access Maldivian territorial waters and air space.

Local online newspaper minivannews.com recently reported the US Embassy in Colombo to have also refuted claims of a planned US military presence in the Maldives.

“There are no plans for a permanent US military presence in Maldives. SOFAs are normal practice wherever the Unites States cooperates closely with a country’s national security forces. SOFAs generally establish the framework under which US personnel operate in a country when supporting security-related activities and the United States is currently party to more than 100 agreements that may be considered a SOFA,” a spokesperson from the US Embassy in Colombo is reported to have told Minivan News on Wednesday.

The US Navy currently holds a naval support facility in Diego Garcia, just 740 kilometres south of Maldives, the largest US military base in the Indian Ocean. The island holds a large naval ship and submarine support base, military air base, communications and space-tracking facilities.

While United States has signed numerous SOFA agreements with various governments around the world, a SOFA agreement is part of a comprehensive security arrangement that establishes the rights and privileges of foreign personnel present in a host country.