Sri Lanka's economic, political crisis causes concern to everyone: Maldives

By Nishant Ketu
New Delhi [India], July 12 : Maldives on Tuesday expressed concern about the volatile situation in Sri Lanka which is facing an economic and political crisis where thousands of people stormed into the President's House in Fort on Saturday.
Talking to ANI about the issue, Maldives's Minister of State of Education, Dr Abdulla Rasheed Ahmed said that the Sri Lankan crisis has raised concern over the situation among its neighbours.
"India and Maldives, these are the closest neighbours to Sri Lanka. So if anything sad is happening to any of neighbouring country, definitely that should be a concern," said Rasheed Ahmed.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe announced to step down from his posts amid the ongoing protests. However, the protesters who have occupied the residences of the President and Prime Minister have cleared that they will continue to occupy their houses until they resign from their posts.
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Monday signed his resignation letter dated July 13 which will be handed over to the speaker of Parliament to make a public announcement on Wednesday.
"As we all know Sri Lanka was a developed country in the South Asian region. Even I studied at the National Institute of Education, Sri Lanka. That was, of course, about 23 years before and I knew the development of Sri Lanka in those days. Even people from Singapore visited Sri Lanka to see their development and their strategies. But, Sri Lanka's economic crisis and political instability are really a concern for everyone," he added.
Dr Abdulla Rasheed Ahmed rejected the reports which say that the Maldives may also face this type of crisis. He said, "Insha Allah, a crisis in the Maldives will not happen. Because, our President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has managed COVID very well. I can say how Maldives managed COVID is a case study. Other countries should come and study how our president managed COVID so well. The board was closed for a short period of time when we compare other countries and our tourism is really going very well. Even last year also we achieved the target and this year also we will achieve the target."
"Our President is very confident in how he's managing the COVID, how he has managed the COVID and nothing sad, nothing bad would happen in the Maldives under his leadership. We don't need to worry because he has given that assurance to the Maldives. Don't worry, just trust him and he is managing everything very well," added Rasheed Ahmed.
It is notable that Sri Lanka is suffering its worst economic crisis since gaining independence in 1948, which comes on the heels of successive waves of COVID-19, threatening to undo years of development progress and severely undermining the country's ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.