Maldives flays arson threat to India's embassy in Male

New Delhi, December 24

The Maldives has hit out at an Opposition leader for having incited arson and terrorism targeted at the High Commission of India in Male.

“The government strongly condemns the incitement of arson and terrorism targeted at the High Commission of India in the Maldives. The government is investigating this threat very seriously and the authorities have taken all precautionary measures,” stated an official statement from the Maldives Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“Such threats of malicious intent aimed at undermining the security of the diplomatic corps and disrupting public safety will not be tolerated,” it added. Parties from the Maldives’ ruling coalition have already condemned “opposition’s continuous effort to incite violence and hatred towards friendly nations” after a former Customs commissioner and member of the opposition Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) Abbas Adil Riza in a tweet called for an arson attack on the Indian High Commission in Male.

“The February 8 arson attacks in Addu were carried out on India’s order. We haven’t retaliated to that yet. I propose we start from the Indian High Commission,” he said. Riza was referring to the 2012 torching of a police post in Addu, the southernmost tip of the Maldives, after power had changed hands with his pro-China coalition coming to power.

His mention of Addu is significant because a proposed maritime base there is the centre of contention between pro- and anti-India forces in the Maldives.