Government briefs police on heated Chagos dispute

The government convened a meeting on Tuesday to brief the police on the Chagos case, which had been rocked by concerns.

Foreign minister Abdulla Shahid, Attorney General Ibrahim Riffath and other senior officials of the two agencies briefed the session held at Iskandhar Koshi.

According to the police website, this session was held in the wake of the National Security Council's decision to brief the police about the ongoing dispute between Maldives and Mauritius.

Home minister Imran Abdulla and Commissioner of Police Mohamed Hameed also attended the session along with officials of senior police ranks.

In October, Attorney General Riffath, while hearing a petition filed by Mauritius at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) seeking to separate the territorial waters between the Maldives and Chagos, said that the government had decided to change the policy that the Maldives had been voting against Mauritius at the United Nations on the ownership of Chagos between the United Kingdom and Mauritius.

The government has assured that the decision will not affect the issue of Maldives-Mauritius maritime boundary. However, the government came under severe criticism for changing the policy adopted by the Maldives.