India navy boarding local fishing boats down to "miscommunication", says Maldives minister

Defence Minister Ghassan Maumoon said on Monday that India has now responded to the incident where its navy boarded Maldivian fishing vessels inside the country's economic zone, saying that it was a "miscommunication".

Late in January, two Indian Coast Guard vessels boarded and searched three local boats fishing in the northernmost part of Maldivian waters, fully armed. Thus:

Ghassan told the Parliament that India had responded to the incident.

“We have received information from official sources that the boarding activity took place due to a miscommunication,” Ghassan said.

"It was due to a miscommunication that the Indian Coast Guard had boarded those vessels without informing its Maldivian couterpart”.

Ghassan said that although he had officially received this response, according to the information garnered from the fishing boats that were boarded, the Indian navy teams had boarded the boats “on the pretext that satellite phones were being used on them, to confirm their presence”.

According to Ghassan, the Indian troops also checked the phones of the fishermen.

“They boarded because they believe [using satellite phones] is illegal,” Ghassan said.

The use of satellite phones is prohibited in India but it is not prohibited by Maldivian laws within Maldivian waters, he said.

"It's legal in the country. And if you go out fishing further out, it is a must by law," he said.

"The Maldivian fishermen were respecting the laws and regulations of the country”.

Ghassan’s answer was followed by a question from Hulhumale MDP MP Ali Niyaz, asking whether he believed it was a miscommunication. He also asked if there might be another hidden reason.

"I very much believe it was a miscommunication. That is the official response from a friendly country," he said.

He elaborated:

VIllufushi MP Hassan Afeef said there were rumours then that Maldivian fishing boats were operating outside Maldives EEZ and asked if that was true.

“[The fishing boats] were operating within the Maldivian EEZ at the time of the incident and in the hours leading to it,” he said, noting that the tracking devices installed on the boats confirmed this.

Ghassan said such incidents would not happen again if the Maldivian Army had the ability to maintain the Maldivian waters. He pointed out that this government is working to do that and one example of that is the recently introduced drone service.