Regardless of who holds power, the relationship does not have to suffer: Mulay

Indian High Commissioner to the Maldives D. M. Mulay has said that it has been proven that regardless of the party that holds power, or the party that is to come to power in the future, the relationship between Maldives and India does not have to suffer.

Mulay made his statements while speaking at the ceremony held to present a security system to the Department of Immigration and Emigration of Maldives on behalf of the the Indian government.

Mulay said that the donation of the security system is proof that regardless of who runs the country or who is in power, the relationship between the two nations will not suffer. He said that it is how things should be and the relationship should not change.

Mulay went on to say that at all levels in both countries have good intentions and that even though there were confusions in certain areas, the relationship between the two countries remained strong. He said that there are reasons to believe that the relationship had never deteriorated, pointing out that new direct flights had commenced between Maldives and different destinations in India while domestic tensions were high in the Maldives.

After saying that he was delighted that the new security system is being presented, Mulay indirectly said that India was not happy with the manner in which the GMR issue was handled by the Maldives.

He said that after seeing some unpleasant things occur at the airport, the presenting of the new security system was a good change.

The Advance Passenger Information System APIS that was donated by the Indian government yesterday is a system used by several countries in the world. It facilitates to collect of biometric data of passengers before they travel, and allows this information to be relayed to the Maldives while passengers are en route to the country.

The Immigration Department said that the system will be established and implemented in about two months.

The department also said that the system will allow them to identify suspects and people who have been black listed, and that they would have prior information of people who are wanted by the authorities, allowing them to be prepared before such passengers arrive.

The security system was presented to the Controller of Immigration Dr. Mohamed Ali by Indian High Commissioner D. M. Mulay at a ceremony held at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport yesterday.

Controller of Immigration Dr Mohamed Ali said while speaking at the ceremony that the Maldives has been in need of such a system for a long time, and that it would assist in simplifying the processes.