The recently leaked letter sent by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih to the Prime Minister of Mauritius has shown that the Maldives did not agree to relinquish part of its territory.
In April, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) ruled that the Maldives should have a majority share of the disputed territory between the maritime boundary of the Maldives and the Chagos Archipelago, ensuring that the Maldives did not lose the southern part of its territory. However, the opposition alleged that the administration agreed to give up Maldivian territory to Mauritius, citing the letter President Solih sent to the Prime Minister of Mauritius as evidence.
The administration has repeatedly refuted the claim, emphasising that no decision compromising national sovereignty had been made. However, the government chose not to disclose the letter exchanged between the heads of state for security reasons.
Recently, the letter was leaked and shows that it contains no mention of the Maldives surrendering any territory to Mauritius. Officials from the President's Office have verified its authenticity.
In the letter sent on August 22 last year, President Solih said that his administration retains the same policies as previous governments regarding the country's ocean territory. He also said that the Maldives will stand firm in its defense against Mauritius at the international tribunal. Notably, the letter bears no indication of the Maldives ceding any territory to Mauritius.
Furthermore, the Bar Council of the Maldives has independently confirmed that President Soih did not send a letter to Mauritius agreeing to relinquish any part of Maldivian territory. A committee of the Bar Council is investigating the case concerning the disputed region between the Maldives and the Chagos Archipelago.
As part of the investigation, President Solih has provided the letter he sent to the Prime Minister of Mauritius before the International Tribunal gave its decision on the dispute case. The committee has received all the documents related to the case and members have determined that the letter does not have any communications that would have affected the outcome of the case or led to the Maldives losing part of its ocean territory.