No Agreement Ever Made for UTF by Yameen Administration: Dunya Maumoon

Although talks about a dockyard and harbour at Uthuru Thila Falhu had taken place between India and former President Yameen Abdul Gayyoom: no agreement regarding the project had ever been made, said former Foreign Minister Dunya Maumoon.

Speaking to India’s “The Hindu” newspaper, Dunya said this in response to claims made by ruling party parliamentarians that the agreement to let India develop and maintain a Coast Guard dockyard and harbour at Uthuru Thila Falhu had originally been drawn up by the Yameen administration. The Majlis Speaker, Mohamed Nasheed, had also remarked on the paperwork that documented the discussion about UTF between the two countries at the time.

Speaking to Dhiyares, the sister-newspaper of The Maldives Journal, a former diplomat remarked that if such an agreement had indeed been signed between the Yameen administration and India, the current government had the complete freedom to publish that agreement.

Speaking to “The Hindu”, Dunya said that although discussions had taken place between the two countries at the time, no agreements had been signed. She said that the Maldives wished to maintain good relations with India. However, she said, the good relations do not mean that Indian troops have to be present in the Maldives.

Former Minister of Defence, MP Adam Shareef Umar (Maduvvari) said that other countries had also expressed interest in developing the Uthuru Thila Falhu. Noting that handing over the location to a foreign country would threaten national security, the Yameen administration decided to develop the location using the State’s own resources.