We have been in very close touch throughout this whole crisis with India: Blake

Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake has, while commenting on the situation in the Maldives, said that the US has been in very close touch throughout the whole crisis with India.

Blake said this in an interview with India’s CNN-IBN.

“…We've been in very close touch throughout this whole crisis with India, and I think we have a very similar perspective on the situation in the Maldives,” Blake told CNN-IBN.

He said that that all the parties in the Maldives should be allowed to choose their own candidates for the presidential election; however, it should all take place in the context of the Maldivian constitution.

When asked if the current situation in the Maldives merits a US intervention, Blake said that officials of the US, India and the Commonwealth have visited the Maldives over the last several months, and that they would all work together very closely in relation to the situation in the Maldives.

The US, India, the UK and the European Union have all said that presidential candidates of all political parties should be allowed to contest in the presidential election.