Khurshid speaks to Maldives government to defuse crisis, but India unhappy with Nasheed

New Delhi: India is making efforts to resolve the crisis in Maldives, where former president Mohamed Nasheed continues to remain holed up in the Indian High Commission, even as Minister for External Affairs Salman Khurshid spoke to his counterpart in the Maldivian government on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Indian High Commissioner in Maldives, DM Mulay, met senior officials in the country's government and made New Delhi's stand clear. The efforts from the Indian side continue despite India being unhappy with the former president for making political statement from the Indian High Commission.

This came a day after India asked current Maldivian President Mohammed Waheed to ensure Nasheed is able to contest the elections in September as the credibility of the elections would be affected if he is not allowed to contest.

India is unhappy with the former president for making political statement from the Indian High Commission.

Reacting to the stand taken by India, the Maldivian government earlier hit out at India, saying it was unfortunate that the country was publicly commenting on events in Male.

In an official statement, Male said, "It is unfortunate that the Government of India has decided to publicly comment on today's events instead of opting for bilateral discussions between the two governments. It is further unfortunate that the Government of India has decided to comment on the types of candidates that could contest the upcoming September Presidential Elections."

The Maldivian President's press secretary also pointed that the warrant against Nasheed had expired, after the case in which it was issued was postponed. The press secretary confirmed to CNN-IBN that there was no reason for Nasheed to continue hiding.

Meanwhile, Nasheed's lawyer Hassan Latif said his men had sought Indian mediation to solve the crisis between the current Maldivian government and the former president.

New Delhi had on Wednesday said it would mediate in the matter. Earlier, referring to Nasheed, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai had said, "He has said he needs our assistance. We are talking to him, then we will talk to the government of Maldives."

Mohammed Nasheed incidentally was in Delhi last week, and had met National Security Advisor (NSA) Shiv Shankar Menon. The two had reportedly discussed the possibility of Nasheed's arrest.

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