GMR had 77 % stake in project; Malaysia’s MAHB
23 p.c.
Malaysia, which was at the receiving end of Maldives’ decision to cancel
the Male airport project along with the Indian company GMR, has sought quick
implementation of the Singapore court order that includes compensation and
damages.
Like India, Malaysia also feels that the Maldives government should not
mix two different issues — pure assessment of contract and legal steps taken
and other political reasons behind the contract termination. The Malaysian
Foreign Minister’s “take away was more or less the same understanding that we
have that there were two separate issues and we would rather have two issues
not confused or converged,” External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid told
journalists about his meeting with his Malaysian counterpart Anifa Bin Aman on
the sidelines of the India-ASEAN summit.
The convergence of views by both countries on quick compensation comes a
couple of days after Maldivian Attorney General Azima Shukoor said Male could
seek compensation from GMR because “we terminated the agreement on the grounds
of void ab initio [void from the outset], therefore we will begin the negotiation on the
position that the government of Maldives does not require to pay back
anything.”
This appeared to run counter to Maldives President Mohd. Waheed stating
to The Hindu that this was up to the arbitration to decide. GMR had 77 per cent stake
in the project to upgrade and operate the airport and the Malaysian
government-owned MAHB the remaining 23 per cent. GMR has sought a compensation
of $800 millions for the sudden cancellation of the project that was awarded by
the previous government. Malaysia has come away with a letter from the Maldives
authorities that quality of performance was not the reason for the cancellation
of the contract, Mr. Khurshid said.
· We would
rather have two issues not confused or converged: Salman Khurshid
· Quality
of performance was not the reason for cancellation: Maldives authorities
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