New Delhi: India has despatched a special envoy to the Indian Ocean atoll nation of the Maldives to assess the situation following political unrest aggravated by the resignation of President Mohamed Nasheed this week.

The envoy, M. Ganapathi, secretary, west, ministry of external affairs, held talks with different political groups as Nasheed demanded fresh elections after being ousted in what he called a coup d’etat.

The official’s mission is aimed at assessing the situation in the country and seeing “how best we can be of assistance”, said a person close to the developments in New Delhi. India sending the envoy coincided with the United Nations (UN) despatching assistant secretary general Oscar Fernandez-Taranco for talks with the new administration in the Maldives. The UN envoy held an hour-long meeting with new president Mohamed Waheed, who has won crucial backing from the US.

The archipelago nation—a favourite destination for high-end global tourists for its pictureseque beaches and turquoise blue waters—has been rocked by weeks of opposition-led protests that were capped on Tuesday by a police mutiny that led to Nasheed’s resignation.

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Unrest across the Maldives as an arrest warrant is issued against ex-president Mohamed Nasheed

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Nasheed, a political prisoner who replaced veteran Maumoon Abdul Gayoom after polls in 2008, maintains that he was “forced” to quit in favour of his vice-president, Waheed, when armed rebel officers threatened him with violence unless he stepped down. New video footage distributed by his office apparently shows him pleading with security forces in vain to help quell a police mutiny and violent demonstrations on the morning of his resignation.

However, a second person close to the developments in New Delhi contested Nasheed’s version of events, noting that he had not mentioned a coup or any group compelling him to resign either in his conversation with Indian high commissioner D.M. Mulay on Tuesday before he resigned nor in his televised resignation address. “It did not appear to be a coup,” said the person, adding that Waheed was next in line to take over as president and form the government if the incumbent resigned as per the provisions of the Maldivian constitution.

“There was some sort of review of the position he (Nasheed) took earlier,” the second person said, adding that political motives could be attributed to it. Waheed had promised to form a national unity interim government, the second person said, referring to comments by the new president on Friday promising that his “key priorities included the restoration of public confidence in democratic institutions by upholding the rule of law and uncompromising adherence to the constitution”.

The second person ruled out any military intervention in the Maldives, describing the crisis as an “a domestic political issue... There is absolutely no basis for us to get involved” militarily, the person said, adding that Nasheed had not asked for any military help from India.

India had sent elite paratroopers to prevent a coup launched by some Sri Lankan Tamil mercenaries in the Maldives on 3 November 1988 at the request of then president Gayoom.

India had a contingency plan in place to evacuate its approximately 30,000 nationals from the Maldives and any foreign tourists should the need arise, the person said. India had also offered to extend any kind of assistance Nasheed sought, but that had been refused, the person said.

Delhi considers the Indian Ocean atoll nation within its sphere of influence given that the islands sit astride some of the busiest shipping lanes connecting Asia, Africa and West Asia. Delhi is also wary of growing Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean region—in Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

AFP contributed to this story.

elizabeth.r@livemint.com