Maldives FM links Chagos issue to leak of ex-president’s letter
Khaleel said the confidential letter from the previous government had led to the loss of a large area of fishing grounds, affecting fisheries in the south.
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Foreign Minister Abdulla Khaleel has said that Maldives’ position on the Chagos Islands could have progressed differently if a letter sent by former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to the Prime Minister of Mauritius had not been made public.
Former President Solih wrote to Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth on 22 August 2022. The letter was leaked during the second round of the presidential election in September 2023, after the then-government declined to release it.
The current administration made the letter public along with a statement on 19 December 2023 outlining efforts to regain parts of Maldivian waters.
In Parliament on Wednesday, Khaleel said the confidential letter from the previous government had led to the loss of a large area of fishing grounds, affecting fisheries in the south and across the country.
“The truth is that if the letter had not been issued, the matter of the sea and the related issues would have been something we could address,” Khaleel said, adding that the government has hired foreign legal counsel to review the case further.
Responding to a question from MP Ameen Faisal, Khaleel said the letter stated that Maldives had no claim regarding Chagos, which he argued became the basis for Maldives’ withdrawal from the process.
Although the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) judgment included references to communications between President Solih and the Prime Minister of Mauritius, Khaleel said the letter had no direct impact on the judgment.
