China warns against meddling

Exiled ex-Prez Nasheed asks India to intervene in Maldives’ ongoing political turmoil

Exiled former president Mohamed Nasheed on Wednesday asked India to play its role of "liberators" and intervene militarily to resolve the ongoing political turmoil in Maldives, in a rebuke to China which has opposed military intervention and called for dialogue to resolve the crisis.

China has warned against any military intervention in the Maldives, saying such a move would further complicate the situation in the island nation where embattled President Abdulla Yameen, who is closely allied with Beijing, declared a state of emergency on Monday and arrested two top judges. "Saying 'resolve things internally' is akin to asking us to escalate the revolt, which can lead to chaos. Maldivians see India's role positively: in '88 they came, resolved the crisis, and left. They were not occupiers but liberators. This is why Maldivians look to India now," Nasheed tweeted. Nasheed, whose Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) functions from Colombo, had appealed for India's help on Tuesday, reports AFP. "We would like the Indian government to send an envoy, backed by its military, to free the judges and the political detainees, including former president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, from their detention and to bring them to their homes. We are asking for a physical presence," Nasheed had tweeted. In 1988, the then Maldivian president Abdul Gayoom had sought India's help to defeat a coup by mercenaries. India responded to his call and dispatched troops to the Maldives to restore order in the country. Most of the Indian soldiers returned home after order was restored in the island nation. The picturesque Indian Ocean archipelago, which has seen a number of political crisis since the ouster of its first democratically-elected president Nasheed in 2012, plunged into a political chaos on Thursday when the apex court ordered the release of nine imprisoned opposition politicians, maintaining that their trials were "politically motivated and flawed".

Concerned over political crisis in Maldives, India, which is monitoring the situation very "closely", on Monday said it was "disturbed" on the declaration of the emergency by the Maldivian government and described as a matter of "concern" the arrests of the chief justice and political figures there. Weighing its options in the fast deteriorating crisis in the Maldives, China has asked political parties in Maldives to find a solution without external intervention after UN, the US and India stepped pressure on Yameen to implement the Supreme Court ruling of setting the detained opposition leaders free. "The current situation in Maldives is its internal affairs. China follows the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of others," China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.

Maldives' Supreme Court Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed and another judge, Ali Hameed, were arrested hours after President Abdulla Yameen declared a state of emergency.

In a late night development, the remaining three judges of the Supreme Court last night amended an order to release nine high-profile political prisoners, including Nasheed.

In a statement, the judges said they were revoking the order to release the prisoners "in light of the concerns raised by the President".