Reports of India shortening exports of essential goods to Maldives are misleading, says MEA

According to it, 'requirements are calculated based on actual utilisation in recent past and is consistent with the mechanism of the trade agreement signed between India and Maldives in 1981'.

"The reports are misleading. As highlighted in the recent notification by the Director General of Foreign Trade, the requirements are calculated based on actual utilisation in recent past and is consistent with the mechanism of the trade agreement signed between India and Maldives in 1981. India remains firmly committed to strong people to people ties between two countries and will ensure that people of Maldives do not have to endure any hardships," the MEA spokesperson said.

The statement was issued after an Indian outlet, The Hindu, reported on Sunday that 'India has lowered the limits on the export of certain essential commodities such as potatoes, onions, and eggs to the Maldives'.

"This move, though ostensibly based on a new method of calculation, comes against the backdrop of a recent heightening of tensions between the two countries," the outlet said.

Earlier this month, India had expressed its strong disappointment over the functioning of democracy in Maldives, condemning the imprisonment of the former president and Chief Justice of Supreme Court, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, for long periods in jail.

"Since the beginning of the political crisis in the Maldives, India has repeatedly urged the Government of the Maldives to allow all institutions, including the Supreme Court and the Parliament, to function in a free and independent manner, and to permit genuine political dialogue between all political parties. This has also been the demand of the international community at large," India's External Affairs Ministry said.

"It is, therefore, with deep dismay that we learned that the former President of the Maldives, as well as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, are being sentenced to long prison terms without fair trial. This casts doubt on the commitment of the Government of the Maldives to uphold the rule of law and will also call into question the credibility of the entire process of Presidential elections in September this year," the EAM statement read.

Gayoom was sentenced for 19 months for obstruction of justice.

The opposition leaders in the Maldives, where a state of emergency was earlier imposed by President Abdulla Yameen in February triggering a political crisis, had sought Indian intervention as a regional power to restore democracy and civil rights.