Foreign Minister responds to allegations following her remarks regarding Silk Road

Minister of Foreign Affairs Dunya Maumoon has responded to allegations by opposition groups regarding her response to questions at the parliament on 5 November 2014, regarding China’s Maritime Silk Road project.

The Foreign Minister has been accused of ‘lying’ after she responded to a question by Medhu-Henveyru MP Ali Azim at the parliament, by saying that other countries in the region have participated in the Silk Road initiative, and discussions in this regard took place during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent state visit to India.

In a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry today, Dunya said, “I responded to the questions from members of the Majlis with honesty and with utmost respect to the Constitution and the laws of the Maldives. My answers were based on the most accurate information available. The information shows that the issue of Maritime Silk Road was in fact discussed during the Chinese President’s recent visit to India, and it is confirmed by the statement issued about the visit, which can be obtained from the following link:

http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/zxxx_662805/t1193332.shtml

“Contrary to the claims and speculations in the media, the documents about the discussion on the Silk Road are publicly available, and the information I presented to the Majlis was obtained from the publicly available documents.”

In a statement published on 18 September 2014 regarding the talks between President Xi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during President Xi’s visit to India, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China said, “…Third, both sides should accelerate the construction of the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) Economic Corridor, conduct cooperation within the frameworks such as the Silk Road Economic Belt, the Maritime Silk Road of the 21st Century and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to promote the process of regional economic integration and connectivity. Both sides should work together to establish an open, transparent, equitable and inclusive security and cooperation framework in the Asia-Pacific region.”

Concluding her statement, Dunya said, “President Yameen’s Government will do whatever it takes to protect and preserve the independence and sovereignty of the Maldives. President Yameen’s foreign policy is aimed at promoting the national interests of the Maldives, not the interests of any other country. The Maldivian public is concerned that the opposition MDP and its media instruments are actively involved in promoting the objectives and interests of another country in the Maldives to the detriment of our country’s independence and sovereignty.”