Nasheed: My plan was delimitating the border in a manner agreed by both nations

Parliament Speaker, former President Mohamed Nasheed, on Wednesday, stated his plan during his administration regarding the maritime border dispute between Maldives and Mauritius regarding Chagos archipelago was to delimitate the border in a manner agreed upon by both nations.

In a tweet on Wednesday night following the joint press conference held by former attorney generals and political parties against the current administration’s policies with respect to the Chagos dispute – Nasheed said his plan to was delimitating the border through a bilateral agreement. To withhold talks regarding the disputed territory till Mauritius agrees to the plan and then to give in to Mauritius in their sovereignty bid of Chagos.

Nasheed also claimed that the disputed territory would not have had to be divided using the equidistance formula if the government had not decided to recognize Mauritius sovereignty over Chagos.

Nasheed, in an earlier tweet regarding the matter, said the retraction of Maldives’ sovereignty of Chagos Islands has led to the Maldives losing part of its maritime territory. He also stated it would be in the best interest of Maldives to renounce the decision by the Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) on the border dispute.

Contrary to Nasheed’s present remarks – Maldives has not claimed sovereignty over Chagos during his administration either.

ITLOS, on Friday, concluded that the conflicting Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) between both nations will be divided between the two using the equidistance formula as argued by Maldives in the case. The bigger portion, however, is awarded to the Maldives.