Ex.Pres Nasheed heads to India; first trip since leaving in January 2016
He was invited by the Chairperson of Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), and is to speak at a conference on Friday
Former President Mohamed Nasheed
Exiled former President Mohamed Nasheed has traveled to Delhi, India on Thursday.
The former President is to speak at a conference held by India's Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), on Friday. He was invited by the organization's Chairperson Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, India's former Ambassador to the United Nations in New York and Geneva.
This is Nasheed's first trip to India in recent times; jailed for 13 years in March 2015, the former President left the Maldives to UK in January 2016, where he has been granted political asylum.
India's news website 'The Wire' reports that the former President does not have any scheduled meetings with Indian government officials.
It noted that while India has refrained from 'directly commenting' on the developments in the Maldives, that the spokesperson at the Ministry of External Affairs said that India 'wished to see a stable, peaceful, prosperous Maldives in which aspirations of people are fulfilled'.
"We continue to remain committed to provide our unstinted support for stability, development and democracy in Maldives," added the spokesperson, on July 27.
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi was to visit the Maldives in 2015, he cancelled the scheduled trip due to the unrest in the country following Nasheed's arrest and subsequent imprisonment in 2015.
While Nasheed was granted medical leave following a trip by Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar, it is reported that both the Indian and Sri Lankan government had intervened in the case. Lanka's Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake had visited the Maldives around the same time.
After being granted asylum in the UK, Nasheed had traveled to Lanka a number of times, and was there prior to his departure to Delhi on Thursday. The Sri Lankan governmnt has granted him a five year-long visa.
