The Maldives government has condemned the circulation of a forged letter allegedly sent by Indian External Affair Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid.
"It has come to the Ministry’s attention that a fabricated letter in the name of a foreign government’s leader is circulating on social media and published on a newspaper," the Foreign Ministry said in a post on X.
"This letter is a forged letter. And its contents are fabricated."
The government described it as an act aimed at disrupting the bilateral relationship with India and urged media personnel to act more responsibly "in line with journalistic standards and ethics."
The Indian High Commission also confirmed that the letter requesting the Maldives government to lease land for 99 years and to allow more Indian aircraft in the Maldives is a "fake letter."
"We unequivocally reject and condemn this malicious attempt to malign and disturb the India-Maldives relations.," the Indian High Commission posted on X.
