Seeking to mollify New Delhi afterintemperate anti-India remarks by a key presidential aide,Maldives has given profound apology as a USD 514-millionairport project carried out by Indian company GMR became atarget of political football here.
Immediately after the remarks were made by Abbas AdilRiza at a rally here, Maldives President Mohamed Waheed toldthe Indian High Commissioner that he will take steps to"rectify" the wrong, official sources told PTI today.
Riza, at the rally on Friday night, called Indian envoyDnyaneshwar Mulay a "traitor" and "an enemy of Maldives".
"A diplomat's job is to work for his country and peopleand not to protect the interests of one private company,"Riza, a political appointee, had said striking an aggressiveposture at the rally organised in protest against the leasingof Ibrahim Nasir International Airport to Indianinfrastructure major GMR by ex-President Mohamed Nasheed'sregime.
"He is a traitor and enemy of Maldives and Maldivianpeople. We don't want these kind of diplomats on our soil."
In a damage-control exercise later, a statement posted onthe official website of President Waheed said the governmentof Maldives disassociates itself from the remarks made byRiza and some other government officials, saying they did notreflect the views of the government.
In a statement, the Indian High Commission said Mulay hascondemned the remarks of Riza, asserting they were "againstdiplomatic protocol".
Mulay also said the government of Maldives has beentold that settling issues of huge mutual interest cannot bedone on public space or on stage.
Riza later claimed that he had not called Mulay a"traitor" and had just said that "we have a new demand whenGMR goes, Mulay should also go."
"I had said people who are supposed to protect highestIndian interests in Maldives are not doing that. They havetaken bribe from GMR. They are traitors. I did not take anynames...," he said.
However, Riza further said that had Mulay "understood the sentiments of the people things would not have reached thislevel. People have given six days to the government. What canwe do in six days?
"By taking his name (while demanding that he should goback) I tried to reduce this steam. Indian ambassador istrying to defend an illegal agreement."
Noting that the new Government in Maldives has raisedsome issues particularly in respect of GMR, the Indian HighCommission said they can be addressed through negotiations andif talks fail this country could go ahead with arbitration.
"The whole thing is in arbitration stage. If arbitrationfails they (GMR and the government of Maldives) could findmutually accepted recourse either by going to the court of lawor may be finding other mechanism available.
"We have told the government of Maldives that settlingissues of huge mutual interest cannot be done on public spaceor on stage. This has to be done through discussion." theIndian High Commission statement said.
The statement said it was also notable in this regardthat President of Maldives on assumption of charge in 2012gave an assurance to India and subsequently during his visitto New Delhi he assured Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that allthe Indian investments, including the GMR, which happened tobe the largest foreign investor in the country, will beprotected and safeguarded.
"Similarly, all the agreements signed by the previousgovernments would also be safeguarded as such we haveexpressed our concern in very strong words to the governmentof Maldives. And we have also conveyed that India wouldsafeguard the country's interests," including those related toit investment, it added.
The statement said the Indian government has on regularbasis engaged the Maldivian government on all issues of mutualinterest.