Maldives risks Indian fury over airport deal

The Maldives said yesterday it would ignore a court ruling staying its decision to kick out Indian infrastructure group GMR, risking a deeper a row with New Delhi, which has threatened to cut off aid. GMR, which won a 25-year contract to manage and upgrade the main international airport in the Maldivian capital under the former government, was given five days to leave the country last week by President Mohammed Waheed’s administration. The privatization deal has been targeted by Waheed and others in the government over alleged corruption and for patriotic reasons, leading to fury in India, the regional power. GMR said Monday it had won “injunctive relief” against the decision in the Singapore High Court, where arbitration was being heard, but the Maldivian government said it would ignore the ruling. The decision to terminate the lease was “non-reversible and non-negotiable,” government spokesman Masood Imad said from the capital Male. “We will not accept the (interim) order,” he added. India, whose influence in the Indian Ocean faces competition from China, warned its south western neighbor yesterday that it might freeze annual aid worth $25 million due in 2013 after a review of the airport decision. The treatment of GMR has also raised concerns about the investor climate in the Maldives, an upmarket honeymoon destination, at a time when the country is seeking foreign financing for tourism projects after a year of political turmoil. “We are not happy with the way Maldives canceled the GMR airport deal. This has surely left an impact on our bilateral ties,” an Indian foreign ministry official told AFP in New Delhi, asking for anonymity. A second official in the ministry said next year’s financial aid of $25 million would be provided only “after every aspect of the airline deal is reviewed.” “A decision whether the money should be given or not will be taken soon,” he said, also on condition of anonymity. Bangalore-based GMR Infrastructure signed the deal to manage the airport in 2010 under former President Mohamed Nasheed, the country’s first democratically elected leader who was ousted after violent protests in February this year. Nasheed’s deputy, Mohamed Waheed, assumed the presidency in what the former government initially described as a “coup” but which has since been judged a legal transfer of power. In November, senior Indian officials in New Delhi welcomed an injured opposition Maldivian politician who claimed he was beaten up by police in what was viewed by some as a sign of India’s concern about political violence. New Delhi is also eyeing growing Chinese influence in the Maldives, where Chinese visitors are now the most numerous tourist group and where Beijing opened an embassy in November last year. Officials at GMR termed the Singapore court verdict staying the cancelation order as a “victory of light over darkness.” “The government of Maldives had made a unilateral move and completely irrational move and the court recognized it,” a senior GMR official said Also yesterday, the Maldivian Parliament adopted a motion to hold a secret no-confidence vote against Waheed, who depends on a coalition of parties for survival.