Modi skips Maldives after unrest

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi will skip the Maldives on a regional tour this month due to political unrest following the arrest of the former president and opposition leader, an Indian diplomat has said.

The Indian foreign ministry announced yesterday that Modi would be visiting the Seychelles, Mauritius and Sri Lanka from March 10 to 14, with no stop scheduled in the Maldivian capital Male, which had been making plans to receive him.

"The visit was being discussed, arrangements were being made, but the sudden decision to drop Maldives is due to the current political situation in Male," an Indian diplomatic source in Colombo, declining to be named, told AFP.

"It would have been difficult to go ahead with the visit given the fact that there are daily protests in Male."

The arrest of former president Mohamed Nasheed on February 22 and his subsequent detention on terror charges have sparked regular anti-government protests and drawn international condemnation.

While Syed Akbaruddin, India's foreign ministry spokesperson, said there was "no question" of cancelling a visit that had never been announced, the Maldivian foreign minister told reporters last month that they were preparing to welcome Modi in the second week of March.

"I do not believe that the internal affairs of Maldives will affect the relationship between both the countries and that it will influence any planned official visits," Dunya Maumoon told a press conference after Nasheed's arrest.

There was no immediate comment from Maldives authorities, but Nasheed's Maldivian Democratic Party welcomed the change to Modi's itinerary.