Maldives Parliament set to review three agreements with India amid sovereignty concerns

In a significant move, the Maldivian parliamentary committee announced on Monday its decision to evaluate three agreements inked by former President Ibrahim Solih's administration with India, a deal aiming at developing a naval base.

The parliamentary panel responsible for overseeing security service activities gave the go-ahead to a proposal by Ahmed Azaan, a parliamentarian affiliated with President Mohamed Muizzu's People's National Congress (PNC) party, to investigate the trio of agreements.

In a social media post, Azaan declared, "Today, the National Security Services Committee of the parliament has decided to conduct a parliamentary inquiry to investigate actions undertaken by President @ibusolih's administration that undermined the sovereignty and independence of the Maldives."

This development surprisingly coincided with President Muizzu's official visit to India to attend the inaugural ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's third term. During his visit, Muizzu engaged in discussions with Modi and Union Minister S Jaishankar in the Indian capital, focusing on bolstering cooperation in areas of mutual interest.

As of now, there has been no response from Indian officials regarding the parliamentary panel's decision.

Initially proposing a comprehensive review of all agreements with India signed by the former administration, Azaan later suggested focusing on specific agreements for the review. The agreements in question include a 2019 pact on hydrographic surveys, the Uthuru Thila Falhu naval base development agreement, and India's gifting of a Dornier aircraft to the Maldives.

While Muizzu's government has already moved to annul the hydrographic surveys agreement, Azaan raised concerns about the rationale behind signing these agreements and particularly questioned the naval base agreement's implications. He demanded insights into why the Maldives National Defence Force's senior leadership was not consulted on this critical matter.

Azaan proposed the appointment of a sub-committee to delve into these agreements and any other actions by the previous government that might have compromised the Maldives' sovereignty.

Consequently, the parliamentary panel established a sub-committee comprising four MPs, including Azaan, to investigate the matter. The timeline for presenting the subcommittee's findings remains undisclosed at this point.