The
Maldives government is going ahead with its plan to take full control of Male
airport after ousting India's GMR even as New Delhi warned that arbitrary and
coercive action without waiting for the outcome of legal proceedings on the
issue would have adverse consequences for bilateral relations.
The
Maldives reached out to India with a message that it would explain at the
highest level its controversial move to terminate the contract with GMR to
build the airport in Male.
With
India making no secret of its displeasure over the unilateral decision to scrap
the USD 500 million GMR project, Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdul Samad
Abdullah today telephoned his Indian counterpart Salman Khurshid in a bid to
mollify an upset India and told him that a detailed communication on it will be
sent to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by President Mohammed Waheed.
However,
Maldivian government made it clear tonight that Male airport will be taken over
by a state-run company by Saturday despite Singapore High Court giving ruling
in favour of Indian infrastructure company GMR.
"Yes,
we will go ahead with the takeover of the Airport as planned. A plan to hand
over the running of the airport without any hiccups is also being worked out
between the Maldivian government, its company and GMR," President Waheed's
press secretary Masood Imad told PTI.
On
the other hand, India sent out a stern message to Maldives saying it expected
no arbitrary and coercive action should be taken pending the outcome of legal
proceedings on the GMR contract issue and warned that recourse to any such
action would have adverse consequences for bilateral relations.
In
response to a question on the GMR issue, the official Spokesperson of the
Ministry of External Affairs said in New Delhi that "we are concerned over
reports from the Maldives about continuing violence and intimidation against
elected representatives and expressions of radical sentiments".
During
his conversation with Khurshid, Abdullah said he was not aware of India's
displeasure over the issue, official sources said in New Delhi.
However,
New Delhi has maintained that they had conveyed their displeasure to Maldives
immediately after the termination of the project and asked it to ensure that
Indian interest was "fully protected".
The
official Spokesman of External Affairs Ministry asked Maldives to ensure that
the rule of law "is upheld and principles and tenets of democracy are
maintained. We will continue to monitor the situation closely."
Referring
to the telephonic conversation Abdullah had with Khurshid, the Spokesperson
said the Maldivian minister had mentioned that his government would not allow
relations between his country and India to be undermined and there was
consensus on this issue.
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