The government of the Maldives launched an investigation after a man allegedly linked to the island nation’s former president Abdulla Yameen’s party took to Twitter and called for an arson attack on the High Commission of India in Malé.
Abbas Adil Riza, who earlier held official positions in the Maldivian government, tweeted on December 23 that the February 8, 2012, arson attack in Addu City in the Indian Ocean nation was ordered by India. He said that the damage caused by the attack had not yet been compensated. “I think we should start with the embassy,” he tweeted with the hashtag ‘India Out’.
Yameen and his Progressive Party of the Maldives (PPM) have been running an ‘India Out’ campaign, opposing the role of India in infrastructure development in Maldives.
New Delhi suspects that the campaign is being tacitly supported by Pakistan and China.
“The government strongly condemns the incitement of arson and terrorism targeted at the High Commission of India in the Maldives,” the office of Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih stated.
“The government is investigating this threat very seriously, and all necessary precautionary measures have been taken by the authorities. Such threats of malicious intent aimed at undermining the security of the diplomatic corps and disrupting public safety will not be tolerated,” it said.
The ruling MDP and several other political parties also condemned Riza’s call for the arson attack on the High Commission.
Yameen had put the Maldives in a debt trap by awarding contracts to the state-owned companies of China to build several infrastructure projects, mostly on unsustainable loan terms.
Though Beijing’s influence over his regime had resulted in strains in New Delhi’s relations with Malé, it saw a reset after Solih and former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed led the Maldivian Democratic Party to victory in the November 2018 elections.
The next presidential elections in the Maldives will be held in 2023.