'India is not crazy' to coerce Maldives, says Prez Waheed

New Delhi, May 14 (PTI) "India is not crazy", said Maldivian President Mohamed Waheed affirming that it would not do anything coercive with regard to internal matters of Maldives. Waheed, here on his first foreign visit after assuming charge in February in a tumultuous political transition, has also sought India's help in financial and social areas with his country facing a huge budget deficit of nearly USD 500 million. Here, barely weeks after the visit of political rival and predecessor Nasheed who came to drum up support for his call for early presidential polls in the Maldives, Waheed, in an interview to PTI, said "India is not crazy .... Somebody making demands just because he is popular is not going to find response. India's response is calculated. It is well informed and, therefore, there is nothing for me to be worried about." He was asked about the remarks of his Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Duniya Maumoon that Maldives hoped that India will respect its sovereignty and will not play a role in the internal politics of the country in the backdrop of demand by Nasheed that India should "coerce" Male into early polls. Waheed also rejected Nasheed's allegations that the entire power transition episode was orchestrated by former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, saying "He (Nasheed) has been making all kinds of allegation, some outrageous also, even relating to India officials. I think, he is out of his mind too frequently." After his meetings with the Indian leadership during which he briefed them on the political situation in Maldives and emphasised on continued adherence to all agreements, Waheed said all Indian investments are "safe." He also said that he has been reassured of continued support by India, including "stand by credit line". Terming India as "most reliable" and "closest friend" who has always helped Maldives in "good and in not so good times", Waheed said his current visit was primarily to thank Indian leadership for the "continued strong support" and assure Maldives' strong commitment to democracy. He also observed that India and the US were some of the countries that did not believe Nasheed's 'coup conspiracy theory'. "He (Nasheed) keeps changing his mind. He said at one point that he had to resign at gunpoint but changed his mind about that. He has also accused me of being behind the change and changed his mind about that also but after three months of harassment by his supporters. "Suddenly he has stated that Waheed is not in this but it is other people. It's been like this only," the 59-year-old Stanford-educated Maldivian President said. Reacting to claims by Nasheed that there were restrictions on his movement, Waheed said he is a free man who has visited Sri Lanka, the US and India, and can go wherever he wants. In the free-flowing interview, he touched upon India-Maldives ties, his expectations from New Delhi, difficult economic situation in his country and role of international community, including Commonwealth group. On his expectations from India, he said he has sought apart from help in overcoming the financial difficulties, assistance in creating jobs for educated Maldivian youth, who in absence of proper skills and job market stray towards drugs which has become a big problem. He also said that some of these youth convert to conservative Islam "to find the meaning of their existence". PTI