Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen cancels Pakistan visit

NEW DELHI: Presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Muaz Ali told ET from Male that Yameen has no plans to visit Pakistan now. "There has been no official announcement that the President will visit Pakistan. The invitation for the trip is still active and he would visit at a convenient time," Ali informed. The measure has seen as reassuring India, already concerned with the political crisis in Male.

There were reports that Yameen would undertake a visit to Islamabad on February 25 and 26. This is the third time that Yameen has postponed his trip to Pakistan in less than a year. He was scheduled to visit Islamabad last August but did not make the trip due to the political crisis in the country and sit-ins outside Parliament by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Pakistan Awaami Tehreek.

Last June, Yameen cancelled his scheduled visit following repeated attacks on Pakistan's Karachi airport by Taliban militias. India has been worried over scholarships to Maldivian students for studying in Pakistani religious seminaries which could encourage radical views in the Indian Ocean country. Maldivian foreign minister Dhunya Maumoon has, meanwhile, stated that the exact dates of Modi’s visit to Maldives will be announced as soon as discussions are complete. There have been speculation that Modi may cancel his March 15 trip to Male. In another development, defence minister Mohamed Nazim’s family has claimed that he was arrested under deceitful circumstances by the Yameen regime and is now being slapped with false treason charges. The family sent a letter to the international community seeking intervention to advise the government to uphold law.