NEW DELHI: India on Friday flatly denied allegations in a US newspaper that Maldivian rebels had demanded $6 million from New Delhi to further their plans to impeach President Mohamed Muiz.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the allegations were baseless and “not credible” and claimed that both the newspaper and the reporters involved displayed “obsessive hostility towards India”.
“These articles you mentioned were published by the Washington Post, one about the Maldives and the other about Pakistan. So both the newspaper and the reporter in question are from India. obsessive hostility towards “I would say that they seem to have a pattern, but as far as we can tell, we’ll leave it to you to judge their credibility.” Randhir Jaiwal said this at his weekly press conference.
The controversy arose from a report in the Washington Post alleging that opposition politicians in the Maldives had offered to bribe 40 members of parliament, including members of Mr. Muiz’s party, as part of an impeachment plot. The report is based on an internal document entitled ‘Democracy Renewal Initiative’.
The report also claimed that senior officials from India’s intelligence agency R&AW “sought” a plan to overthrow Muiz in the months after he took office.
Former Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed, who heads the opposition Maldives Democratic Party (MDP), also refuted the report, saying he was unaware of any “serious conspiracy” against President Muiz. He stressed that India has always supported democracy in the Maldives and would never engage in such actions.
Also read: MEA pursues Pakistan foreign minister’s ‘two-to-tango’ comments on bilateral relations
Secret murder in Pakistan?
The MEA spokesperson warned neighboring terror groups about a Washington Post report alleging that India secretly targeted and killed Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists in Pakistan.
“When it comes to Pakistan, I would like to quote (former US Secretary of State) Hillary Clinton: “You can’t keep a snake in your backyard and expect it to just bite your neighbor”… ” said an MEA spokesperson. Randhir Jaiswal.
Back in 2011, in a candid message to Pakistan, Mr. Clinton urged Islamabad to do more to eliminate safe havens of extremism for the good of the world and its people.
“It’s just like the old story: You have a snake in your backyard and you expect it to just bite your neighbor,” Clinton told reporters in Islamabad at a joint press conference with then-Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar. “You can’t do that. Eventually the snake will die.” Attack anyone who has them in their backyard. ”
