India pacts same as those negotiated by previous govts, says pres

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih said on Monday that the agreements signed by previous governments with India have not been changed.

MDP presidential candidate, President Solih gave brief answers to questions from journalists outside the Shinetree Building as he exited his campaign office located in the building late Monday night. 

Responding to the opposition's allegations that the government has signed agreements with India that undermine Maldives' independence, President Solih said the agreements signed with India were made by previous governments and this government took the final decisions on those agreements. The president reiterated that the agreements would not contain anything that would undermine the country's independence.

“I want to assure all the people that any such agreements, and those agreements were made by previous governments, are only for a final decision,” he said.

"Whether it's the UTF agreement, the helicopter, the air ambulance, it's just been negotiated and MoUs signed before. So we didn't make any more changes to them."

The president added that the government cannot make the agreements public because such agreements contain confidentiality clauses. However, the president noted that the government has already shared the contents of the agreements with the National Security committee of the parliament.

"The agreements are not disclosed because there are some clauses in the agreement between the two parties. That's why all the information about it, all the information that can be given, has been given to the 241 committee," he said.

President Solih said:

"The opposition is spreading lies about it. I will do everything I can to expose these lies to the people," he said.