India backs new Male regime

India said here on Wednesday that it was ready to support the new government in the Maldives to uphold the rule of law if the people of the island nation wanted.

New Delhi formally offered assistance to Male when the new Maldivian President,
Mohammed Waheed Hassan, called Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and said he was committed to “upholding the Constitution and the rule of law” in his country.
Singh conveyed his best wishes to Hassan and said that India stood ready to provide any support or assistance to the people of the Maldives.

Hassan, who was vice-president in the earlier regime, took over as President after his predecessor Mohamed Nasheed resigned amid protests triggered by the arrest of a judge.
The prime minister’s offer of support to the government was a shot in the arm for the new regime in Male on a day Nasheed alleged that he was forced to resign at gunpoint.

According to a press release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi, the Maldivian president called Singh and “reaffirmed the special and close ties that the Maldives has with India.”