The Maldivian government has formally requested New Delhi to provide details regarding an incident where Indian Coast Guard personnel allegedly got on three of the Maldivian fishing vessels operating within its economic zone without speaking with the relevant authorities.
The issue was raised by the Maldives defence ministry in a Friday (Feb 2) statement that said, “On Feb. 1, 2024, the foreign ministry of the Maldives has asked (India) officially for the details of the operation that was carried out while Maldivians were fishing in the Maldivian exclusive economic zone, without any coordination with the relevant authorities and against all international laws.”
“Consequently, the Maldivian government has initiated an official request through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, seeking comprehensive details of the incident from the Indian government,” the statement further read, according to media reports.
The incident reportedly involved teams from the Indian Coast Guard Ship 246 and Indian Coast Guard Ship 253.
The Indian government is yet to respond to the claims made by the Maldivian government.
The recent development adds to the existing diplomatic tensions between the two nations. Last month, ministers from President Mohamed Muizzu’s government had passed racist remarks against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Amid the heightened tensions, leaders of both the nations meet at the second core group meeting in Delhi over troop Withdrawal on Feb 2.
Following the meeting, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that both sides agreed on “a set of mutually workable solutions to enable continued operation of Indian aviation platforms that provide humanitarian and medvac services to the people of Maldives.”
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While the Maldivian foreign ministry said, “Both sides agreed that the Government of India will replace the military personnel in one of the three aviation platform by 10 March 2024, and will complete replacing military personnel in the other two platforms by 10 May 2024.”
(With inputs from agencies)
