The Maldivian State Will Have No Control Over UTF: Yameen

Opposition leader, former President Abdullah Yameen Abdul Gayyoom, hsa said that the government will have no control over Uthuru Thila Falhu (UTF); it would be an Indian military centre.

Opposition leader, former President Abdullah Yameen Abdul Gayyoom, has travelled to Meedhoo (Raa Atoll) as part of his campaigning for the "India Out" movement; a grassroots movement that calls for the removal of Indian military personnel and assets from the Maldives. Speaking at a rally in Meedhoo, the opposition leader stated that Indian troops were firmly stationed in five regions of the Maldives and that the Maldivian government would not have any control over UTF.

The opposition leader expressed his concerns that although UTF was being built with Maldivian finances, it had been handed over to the Indian military under the pretext of development through a classified agreement.

He pointed out that the agreement required that the construction and management and supervision, in all aspects, was to be controlled by the Indian military. He pointed out that the Maldivian government had no power to ask about the number of Indian military personnel to be stationed at UTF, the duration of their stay, or even the tasks assigned to them.

"That is because [UTF] is not under the control of the Maldivian State. It is entirely under the dominion of the Indian military", said former President Yameen.

The former President said that the agreement signed with India to develop UTF was not to be shown to any third party. He said that this was why the agreement was not disclosed to the Majlis.

He said that the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party worked the hardest to demonstrate that India was the Maldives' closest ally. He said that the opposition never claimed that India was not a close ally. However, he said, the present Hindu nationalist government of India was tied closely with the threat to Maldivian sovereignty. He called for the complete removal of Indian troops from the Maldives.

The UTF agreement had not been disclosed to the Majlis prior to its signing in early 2021. The agreement's duration is a total 18 years, with a clause allowing for its extention for a further 15 years.