Indian recognition of Maldivian 'coup' shocking: Nasheed

 Former Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed has said it felt shocking to see how rapidly the Indian and the US government stepped in to recognise the new regime.

On his first overseas visit in Sri Lanka after being ousted from office in February, Nasheed Saturday called upon the present Maldivian government to declare early elections to restore democracy in the country and end the political turmoil.

While stating that there was no need to change the country's constitution to go for an early election, Nasheed said international agencies including the Commonwealth, European Union and the Indian and US governments were also calling for early elections during 2012, the Sri Lankan daily Sunday Observer reported.

"They have come to a point that elections are very important. It was shocking to see how rapidly the Indian and the US government stepped in to recognise the new regime - the coup."

"I think that it took them a while to understand what was going on and then they found out it was not possible to maintain the present order. These two governments have made many re-alignments in their policies. It was disappointing at the beginning," said Nasheed.  
Nasheed also said that he was confident of returning to power as any government could not remain without people's consent.