India need not be concerned about the situation in Maldives: President

President Dr. Muhammad Waheed Hassan Manik has said that India need not be concerned about the situation in the Maldives.

Speaking to Indian News Agency, Press Trust of India (PTI), the President said on the 15th of this month that the affairs of the Maldives were well, and that there was no reason for India to be concerned.

In answer to PTI’s question about the demands of some political parties in the Maldives for the government to take back Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) from its Indian operator GMR, the President said that the airport lease agreement between GMR and the previous government of the Maldives had been entered in “questionable circumstances”.

“The agreement (to lease INIA to GMR) was signed by the previous government, and the circumstances leading to the stamping of the deal were questionable. Hence, this is not a problem that we have with GMR, but with a bad agreement”, said the President, according to PTI.

When asked by PTI whether the demand of political parties in the Maldives about taking back the INIA from GMR is an irresponsible one as stated by former President Mahomet Nasheed, President Waheed said that “we have to pay GMR 1.5 million US dollars per month under the current arrangement of the agreement in operation, and that is beyond our capacity”.

In the meantime, the Indian Government has today issued a Statement saying that it is concerned about the situation in the Maldives and the “anti-Indian protests” being staged in the Maldives. The Statement also said that India had registered its concerns with the Maldivian authorities.