India maintained cautious silence on the free trade agreement that the Maldives signed on Wednesday with China. Senior officials at the Ministry of External Affairs said the government needs to look into the details of the FTA between the Indian Ocean country and Beijing even as the Opposition of Maldives said the deal was ‘detrimental’ to the Maldivian economy.
No opposition
The FTA, second in the region, after a similar agreement between China and Pakistan, reportedly caused surprise in the official circles here as the President Abdullah Yameen government pushed the agreement with no opposition in a brief session of the Maldivian parliament.
In a social media message on Thursday, opposition leader and former President of Maldives Mohammed Nasheed said, “A Free Trade Agreement between the Maldives and China will be detrimental to our economy as balance of trade is greatly in favour of China. The agreement must be in the best interest of the people of Maldives.”
