Male: In a hard hitting speech at the Indian Ocean Conference (IOC) in Male, today, the former Maldives President, Mohamed Nasheed, said that China had grabbed more land than the East India company ever had without firing a single shot. India is also participant of the IOC which is being held in the country.
Nasheed said, “In the last few years, without a single shot being fired, China has grabbed more land than the East India company had ever done. If I were to take this contract to commercial arbitration, it will be same as somebody in Kolkata taking East India company to arbitration.”
The former President also explained the modus operandi of China and also named the communist country by name while speaking. He said that large amounts of money has come from into Maldives and invested in inflated projects and these projects are funded by China’s Exim bank.
Nasheed outlined how China gets control of the lands in the country by saying, “Get hold of a government, buy up a parliament, change the laws, get unsolicited contracts then inflate the price of the contract to the level due to which business plans failed here. Give commercial loans and then, off course, they will not be able to pay it back. When you can’t pay back, they ask for equity and with equity, you relinquish sovereignty, including the peace of the Indian Ocean. I am referring specifically to China.”
In his speech, Nasheed also brought out the grave threat of ISIS and al Qaeda operating in Maldives. These terrorists have developed a ‘deep state’ in Maldives by capturing strategic positions in police, military, immigration, and education.
He added, “Over the past 40 years, a very radical version of Islam has been propagated in the Maldives and much of South Asia, creating a breeding ground for extremist propaganda and jihadi movements. It is sad that several Maldivians went to fight in Syria (for the Islamic State).”
Mohamed Nasheed is the first democratically elected President of the country and served the country from 2008 to 2012.
Indian External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar, is currently in Maldives and met with the current President of the country, Ibrahim Mohamad Solih. Jaishankar assured the Maldivian President of India’s commitment to the nation’s development.
