Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has responded to President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu's rhetoric about India.
Jaishankar responded to Muizzu's statement on January 13, 2024, when he had said with reference to India: "We may be small but that doesn't give you the license to bully us."
In response to a question from a member of the public at a book launching event in New Delhi, Jaishankar said a bullying nation would not provide USD 4.5 billion worth of assistance to a neighbor in trouble.
"Big bullies don't supply vaccines to other countries when covid-19 is on or make exceptions to their own rules to respond to food demands or fuel demands or fertilizer demands because some war in some other part of the world has complicated their lives," Jaishankar said.
India has always helped neighboring countries during crises and would continue to do so, Jaishankar added.
Upon his return from a state visit to China, President Muizzu said at the Velana International Airport that the Maldives was "not in any country's backyard."
"We are not in the backyard of any country. We are a sovereign and independent nation. So this principle of territorial integrity is a principle in which China respects us very much," President Muizzu said at the time.
During his campaign for the presidency, Muizzu mainly directed criticism towards India. The Progressive Party of Maldives-People's National Congress (PPM-PNC) coalition vowed to remove Indian soldiers from the Maldives.
However, after assuming office, Muizzu reached an agreement with India to replace uniformed Indian military personnel with "civilians" to operate the Indian helicopter and Dornier aircraft in the Maldives. The first group of civilian personnel arrived in the Maldives last week.
