Parliament Member for Addu Maradhoo constiuency, Ibrahim Shareef has accused opposition small parties for having their own political agenda and highlighted that no part of the sea area is lost from the Maldives.
On 28th last month, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) ruled that the Maldives should get a large share of the disputed territorial waters between the Maldives and Mauritius seas. There is an area of about 95,000 square kilometers between the Maldives and the Chagos Islands, less than 200 nautical miles on either side, and a conflicting exclusive economic zone.
However, the opposition has been spreading various rumors about the issue. On Wednesday, tweeting on the issue MP Shareef said that the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) has now been defined. The issue, which has been unresolved for 58 years since the Maldives has gained independence, was resolved peacefully with the recent decision of the International Tribunal of the Law (ITLOS), in favour for the Maldives.
"Maldives won a huge victory when ITLOS dismissed Mauritius arguments that Blenheim Reef should be the measuring point, upheld our country’s contestation saying that it is terra nullius and thus didn’t fall within that country’s territory and ruled in our country’s favour," said Shareef.
He also added that under ITLOS rule, Maldives got the the larger portion of 47,232 sq km and Mauritius 45,331 sq km from the disputed maritime area of 95,000 sq km.This is a major achievement with no losses for Maldives despite the claims of political opposition that we lost territory, Shareef said.
Her further dismissed the claims from opposition political parties, which accused that the country lost a major part of maritime territory when President Solih retracted sovereignty claims over Chagos. He then highlighted that the opposition is attempting to twist the truth on Chagos issue for political advantage.
"Maldives has not lost any fishing grounds as alleged by irresponsible opposition parties. In fact, we have legally gained, internationally recognised, power over our southern fishing grounds," Shareef said in his tweet.
He said the joint campaign by opposition parties to politicize a bilateral issue to achieve the interests of petty political parties and their own agendas was very dangerous and could have long-term negative consequences.
On 28th last month, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) ruled that the Maldives should get a large share of the disputed territorial waters between the Maldives and Mauritius seas. There is an area of about 95,000 square kilometers between the Maldives and the Chagos Islands, less than 200 nautical miles on either side, and a conflicting exclusive economic zone.
However, the opposition has been spreading various rumors about the issue. On Wednesday, tweeting on the issue MP Shareef said that the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) has now been defined. The issue, which has been unresolved for 58 years since the Maldives has gained independence, was resolved peacefully with the recent decision of the International Tribunal of the Law (ITLOS), in favour for the Maldives.
"Maldives won a huge victory when ITLOS dismissed Mauritius arguments that Blenheim Reef should be the measuring point, upheld our country’s contestation saying that it is terra nullius and thus didn’t fall within that country’s territory and ruled in our country’s favour," said Shareef.
He also added that under ITLOS rule, Maldives got the the larger portion of 47,232 sq km and Mauritius 45,331 sq km from the disputed maritime area of 95,000 sq km.This is a major achievement with no losses for Maldives despite the claims of political opposition that we lost territory, Shareef said.
Her further dismissed the claims from opposition political parties, which accused that the country lost a major part of maritime territory when President Solih retracted sovereignty claims over Chagos. He then highlighted that the opposition is attempting to twist the truth on Chagos issue for political advantage.
"Maldives has not lost any fishing grounds as alleged by irresponsible opposition parties. In fact, we have legally gained, internationally recognised, power over our southern fishing grounds," Shareef said in his tweet.
opposition parties claims that we lost a major part of our country’s maritime territory when @ibusolih retracted earlier sovereignty claims over Chagos is totally false. Maldives never ever claimed sovereignty over Chagos. present dispute arised from overlapping maritime boundary
— Ibrahim Shareef (@AdduShareef) May 17, 2023
He said the joint campaign by opposition parties to politicize a bilateral issue to achieve the interests of petty political parties and their own agendas was very dangerous and could have long-term negative consequences.
