Govt Agrees that It Had Changed Yameen's Policy Regarding Hydrographic Survey

The government has confirmed that it had changed course from the policy that had been adopted by the Yameen administration with regards to the hydrography survey as conducted by India.

The government had confirmed the change of policy during a session of the Parliament Commttee on National Security Services (also known as the 241 Committee). The 241 Committee had recently launched a large-scale inquiry into the possible ill effects the "India Out" movement may have on the Maldives. The inquiry had been requested by Majlis Speaker Mohamed Nasheed, the president of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party.

During the session, MP Mohamed Ghassan Maumoon (PPM-Guraidhoo) had referenced a contact report that had been made about former Foreign Minister Dr Mohamed Asim's 10 - 12 January 2018 visit to India. The report read that the Maldivian High Commissioner to India, Ahmed Mohamed, had informed the Indian government that the Maldivian government did not wish to let any foreign country conduct a hydrographic survey in the Maldives.

MP Ghassan mentioned that the document showed that signing an agreement to conduct a hydrographic survey had not been a policy of the Yameen administration. Therefore, MP Ghassan requested the officials of the Foreign Ministry to verify if the document was authentic.

Prior to MP Ghassan's question, the officials of the Foreign Ministry had responded to a question posed by MP Abdul Gahfoor Moosa (MDP-Hanimaadhoo) and had stated that none of the agreements that the Solih administration had signed with India were new; rather, the work of all of the agreements had been initiated by the Yameen administration.

Responding to MP Ghassan's question, the Foreign Ministry officials responded that they did not know how MP Ghassan had acquired one of the Ministry's internal documents. The Ministry however, did not claim that the document was inauthentic.

In addition, the Ministry claimed that foreign policy changed with every government and that the current government had decided to sign the hydrography survey.

The government, and supporters of the government, have long claimed that the classified military agreements signed between the Solih administration and India had been initiated by the Yameen administration. However, these claims do not appear to be valid, according to documents that have recently come to light.