The government has said the Maldives has not retracted its stand on the ongoing dispute surrounding the delimitation of the maritime boundary of the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of the Maldives and the Chagos Archipelago.
In a statement issued by the President's Office, the government said the Maldives informed Mauritius of its decision to vote yes, should the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution entitled Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences of the separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965 to be considered again. The decision was reached following the pronouncement by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion that Mauritius has sovereign rights over Chagos will be fully accepted in the ongoing case. The resolution is not in any way related to the issue of delimiting the maritime boundary between the Maldives and the Chagos Archipelago.
The Maldives previously voted No on the UNGA resolution entitled Advisory Opinion of the ICJ on the legal consequences of the separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965. In the explanation of the vote given following the consideration of the resolution in 2019, the Maldives noted that this vote was not against the resolution, and not reflective of the long-standing position of the Maldives on supporting decolonisation efforts.
Furthermore, the Maldives denied allegations made by the Progressive Coalition that the President acted outside of his constitutional mandate with regard to this matter. The present case concerns the southern EEZ of the Maldives determined by the Law of Sea Convention. Setting the boundaries of the EEZ as stipulated in domestic and international law is well within the mandate of government and we will see that those obligations are fulfilled. Following the filing of the case at ITLOS by Mauritius, the decision by the Maldives to seek a resolution to the case and maximise the national interest via ITLOS was discussed and reached in a session of the full cabinet.
The government noted that on December 18, 2019, the Maldives raised preliminary objections in the ITLOS case, noting that the tribunal does not have the jurisdiction to hear the case while there is an ongoing dispute over the sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago between the United Kingdom (UK) and Mauritius. Following the preliminary hearings, ITLOS held that it had jurisdiction to hear the case submitted by Mauritius, having regard to the advisory opinion of ICJ on the question of the sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago. Following the decision, the Maldives has continued to defend its position regarding the delimitation of the maritime boundary between the Maldives and the Chagos Archipelago, at the Tribunal’s hearings.
The government expressed its disappointment at attempts by political parties to mislead the Maldivian public and the international community on such an issue. The government remained confident that the issue of delimiting the maritime boundary between the Maldives and the Chagos Archipelago will be resolved in a fair and equal manner by ITLOS, taking into consideration the arguments put forward by the Maldives regarding this issue.