NEW DELHI: India today said it was "disturbed" by Maldives President
Abdulla Yameen's move to impose a state of emergency in the island nation amid a
deepening confrontation+
between the government and the judiciary.
The Ministry of External Affairs (
MEA) issued a brief statement expressing concern at the arrest of the
Supreme Court chief justice and political figures in the wake of yesterday's declaration of emergency. However, it gave no indication of whether India will
directly intervene+
in Maldives.
"We are disturbed by the declaration of a State of Emergency in the Maldives following the refusal of the Government to abide by the unanimous ruling of the full bench of the Supreme Court on 1 February, and also by the suspension of Constitutional rights of the people of Maldives," said the MEA.
India said it will continue monitoring the situation in Maldives, which is rapidly coalescing into a full-blown political crisis.
The show of support comes after exiled former president
Mohamed Nasheed urged India to send military intervention to resolve the ongoing political stand-off. Indian intervention in the
Maldives
would not be unprecedented, as New Delhi sent troops in 1988 to foil a coup, purportedly involving foreign mercenaries.
After defying the court's ruling to release political prisoners, President Yameen declared a 15-day emergency, which suspends all basic rights and gives sweeping powers to security forces to arrest and detain suspects. Following this, Yameen ordered security forces to seize control of the Supreme Court and arrest chief justice Abdulla Saeed and another judge, without giving details about the investigation or any charges against them.
Justifying the clamping of emergency, Yameen today said it was done to investigate a "coup" by the Supreme Court judges and opposition leaders - in directly disobeying his orders, including making moves to impeach him.
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has urged the Maldivian government "to uphold the constitution and rule of law, lift the state of emergency as soon as possible, and take all measures to ensure the safety and security of the people in the country, including members of the judiciary."
'Resolve crisis without external intervention'
China, which is closely allied to the Yameen regime, has
called for resolution+
of the political stand-off through dialogue without external intervention.
Without directly commenting on the UN, the US and India's criticism of the handling of situation by Yameen, Beijing said it believes that the
Maldives
government, political parties and people have the wisdom and the capability to deal with their current situation on their own.
However, in a move that could hurt the picturesque island nation's booming tourism industry, China upgraded its travel advisory, asking its citizens to cancel their plans to visit Maldives in view of the emergency.
India, too, had advised its nationals to avoid undertaking non-essential travels to the Maldives until further notice.
(With inputs from Agencies)
