Manmohan Singh calls for peaceful settlement in Maldives, sends envoy

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, on Friday said India favoured peaceful settlement of political uncertainty in neighbouring Maldives through dialogue among all political entities.

Dr. Singh informed that New Delhi has sent an envoy to Male to assess the situation.

"We have sent an envoy to Maldives to assess the situation and it's our sincere hope that the problems that have arisen in the recent days can be resolved through peaceful dialogue among all political entities involved. And it will be our effort to use our influence in that direction," he told mediapersons here.

Meanwhile, the visiting European Council President, Herman Van Rompuy, said they are following the current situation in Maldives very closely.

"We are following the situation very closely. We are concerned and we are ready to engage together with India via our representative for foreign affairs," he added.

The President of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, resigned earlier this week in favour of a national unity government under the leadership of Vice President Dr. Mohamed Waheed Hassan until next year"s presidential election.

The resignation came following weeks of public protests over his controversial order to arrest a senior judge.

Ex-Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed has, however, said he will be approaching the country's Supreme Court for justice following a coup, which he claims was engineered by then Vice-President Dr. Mohammed Waheed Hassan. (ANI)