Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu says ‘no one has license to bully us’ amid diplomatic row with India

Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu on Saturday issued a strong statement amid a diplomatic row with India. Mohamed Muizzu said that Maldives is a small country, but that is not a “license” for anybody to “bully” us. The remarks from the Maldivian President came at the Velana International Airport (VIA) after the conclusion of his 5-day visit to China. India and Maldives recently engaged in a fresh row over derogatory remarks made by three Maldivian ministers against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The social media remained abuzz with boycott Maldives trend as Indians expressed displeasure on the remarks made against PM Modi. Maldives took action against the 3 ministers and suspended them from their positions, but many Indians canceled their plans to visit Maldives with influential celebrities requesting people of the country to visit our islands like Lakshadweep instead.

In his address, the Maldives President asserted that the ocean does not belong to any specific country and Maldives has one of the biggest shares of the ocean.

“Though we have small islands in this ocean, we have a vast exclusive economic zone of 9,00,000 square kilometers. Maldives is one of the countries with the biggest share of this ocean. This ocean does not belong to a specific country. This ocean also belongs to all countries situated in it," the news platform Times of India quoted Mohamed Muizzu as saying.

'Not situated in anyone's backyard'

Mohamed Muizzu gave a strong response when asked about the comments like Maldives is situated in India's backyard. The President said that we don't belong to anyone's backyard and Maldives is an independent, sovereign state.

While affirming that Maldives-China relations are based on the principles of "non-interference," Mohamed Muizzu took a jibe at the previous Maldives government and said that the earlier administration used to take permission from a foreign country “before getting up from one chair and sitting on another.”

Mohamed Muizzu came to power in the Maldives on the plank of the "India-out" campaign and has made several moves to signal that they are going to align with China in the struggle for the dominance of the Indian Ocean Region.