”Everything is good,” Maldives Envoy to India Ibrahim Shaheeb remarked on Wednesday when asked about ties between India and the island nation in the wake of controversial remarks made by now suspended three Maldivian ministers against Prime Minister Narendra Modi following his visit to Lakshadweep.
The Maldives envoy was approached by reporters when he was alighting from his car at the Parliament House where he was invited to attend President Droupadi Murmu’s address to the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament on the opening day of the Budget Session.
This came a day after Maldives Opposition leader Qasim Ibrahim asked President Mohammed Muizzu to formally apologise to PM Modi and the people of India for certain remarks made by Mr Muizzu as part of his government’s ‘India Out’ campaign during his recent China trip.
A huge diplomatic row erupted between India and the Maldives earlier this month after three junior ministers made unsavoury references to PM Modi after he wrote about Lakshadweep in a social media post. The Maldives government distanced itself from the remarks and suspended the three ministers.
Meanwhile in the Maldives, the main opposition MDP – which holds a majority in Parliament – has gathered enough signatures to submit a motion to impeach President Mohamed Muizzu but is yet to submit it. The Maldives has been passing through a tumultuous time ever since the Muizzu government, which is considered ‘pro-China’, assumed office in the island.
The Maldives Parliament recently witnessed clashes between lawmakers. Maldives Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem was on Wednesday attacked in broad daylight in the capital city of Male.