The assertion by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu's government that removing Indian soldiers was not easy caused a loss of hope, former President Abdulla Yameen, who first started the campaign against their presence, has said.
The People's National Front (PNF) leader, who is serving an 11-year jail sentence on bribery and money laundering charges, is currently under house arrest. However, he has been occasionally attending PNF rallies.
Despite a warning from Corrections over his participation in political activities, Yameen spoke at a rally held on Saturday night while sitting in the audience without going to the podium.
During the rally in the PNF office, Yameen posed questions to the speakers at the podium. On one of the occasions, he asked Dr. Mohamed Jameel Ahmed, who was speaking at the time, for an assessment based on the evidence he proposed.
In his remarks, Yameen characterized the current administration as "our government."
"The biggest pledge that this government, our government, made to the Maldivian people to come to power was that we'd remove Indian soldiers from the country. And as we believed, after the President's swearing-in ceremony ended, it was announced very early on that Indian soldiers would be removed and that it had been communicated to the Indian government," Yameen said.
Yameen speaking and asking questions. -- Photo: PNF
Yameen noted the President's Office saying two weeks ago that efforts to send back Indian soldiers were not easy.
"I want to say that this is a government that came very courageously to remove Indian soldiers. When a minister of the government, of the President's Office, said that, I despaired very much. 'It's not easy.' Nothing might be easy," Yameen said.
Despite the Maldivian government issuing "notice" for taking back the Indian soldiers before March 15, Yameen said the Indian government has not been told about the date, citing Indian media reports.
"[The Indian government said] 'our delegation met the Maldives Foreign Ministry, but there was no talk at all during that meeting about the date for Indian soldiers to leave,'" Yameen said in one of his questions.
The government said the removal of Indian soldiers was not easy during a press conference on January 2. The statement was made by Public Policy Secretary Abdulla Nazim while providing information about cabinet decisions.
"The Maldives government is committed to fulfilling that pledge. We have always believed that this is not an easy thing. We believed there will be challenges. We knew this should be done within diplomatic norms and rules. We knew this should be done within the legal boundaries," Nazim said.
It was Yameen who first started activities against the presence of Indian soldiers in the Maldives. The "India Out" campaign that he initiated became the key pledge of incumbent President Muizzu's campaign. According to the government, President Muizzu's foreign policy is ending Maldives' dependence on India.
Since assuming office in November, the President has heavily criticized India and declared that he would uphold the country's independence.
As India-Maldives ties deteriorated since the government came to power, President Muizzu made his first state visit to India's rival China. After returning from the China trip, he directed a harshly-worded attack against India.
