Fact Check: Maldives did not handover 28 islands to India
In January 2024, relations between India and the Maldives were strained due to derogatory remarks made by Maldivian cabinet ministers and concerns over racism directed at the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and India at large
Claim :
Maldives handed over its 28 islands to India. President Muizzu himself signed the agreementFact :
India is funding a sanitation and safe drinking water project in all the 28 islands of Maldives
In January 2024, relations between India and the Maldives were strained due to derogatory remarks made by Maldivian cabinet ministers and concerns over racism directed at the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and India at large. The key campaign topic for the Maldivian president during the 2023 elections was ‘India Out’ policy. In reaction to this, India called for a boycott of tourism of Indian citizens to the Maldives.
After all this, a video showing India’s foreign minister Jaishankar visiting the President of Maldives office has been shared with the caption ‘Maldives handover its 28 islands to India. President Muizzi himself signed the agreement”
When we observed the video shared along with the claim, we found that the video had the Zee News logo on it. So, we searched for the video news report published on Zee News. In the video news report shared by the YouTube channel of Zee News with the title ‘India Bangladesh breaking: बांग्लादेश छोड़िए, मा
The narration in the video claims ‘India has entered 28 islands of Maldives at once. The President of Maldives himself, Mohammad Muizzu, has handed over 28 islands of Maldives to India. India has got a big victory in the Maldives. The victory in Maldives will change the picture of Bangladesh in the coming times, because in both Bangladesh and Maldives, the opposition parties came to power by running the India Out campaign, but now both are ready to come on their knees. In fact, Mohammad Muizzu has announced that he has handed over 28 islands of Maldives to India. So that India can build water and sewerage projects on these 28 islands, Mohammad Muju has made this announcement in front of S.J. Shankar. India will now make the water on these 28 islands of Maldives drinkable and usable. You know that there is a huge shortage of water in Maldives, which is surrounded by the sea. A few days ago, Maldives had bought water from China by showing arrogance, but now Maldives has caught its ears. Read this tweet of Mohammad Muju carefully. He wrote that it was very nice to meet Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar today. I have given the projects of water and sewerage projects in 28 islands of Maldives to India. I thank the Government of India, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for always supporting Maldives. Our partnership is constantly getting stronger. Tell me, this same Mohammad Muju had said a few days ago that India should not show its eyes to us, but today he himself has given the responsibility to Foreign Minister S. Smiling sheepishly in front of Jaishankar, Maldives handed over its 28 islands to India. The ghost of China has been exorcized from Maldives. Maldives has come on its knees in front of India. Let me tell you that in the coming days, Bangladesh will also be in the same condition. Bangladesh which is killing Hindus today will apologize to Hindus and will also beg in front of India. But the youtube video published by Zee News is deleted now.
Fact Check:
The claim is False. Maldives government did not hand over the 28 islands to India. India’s foreign minister inaugurated a water and sewerage project across 28 Maldivian islands.
Though the narration of the Zee News video is false, the description of the video states that India would fund 28 water projects in Maldives, Jaishankar launches Maldives' largest India-funded sanitation project. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday handed over to the Maldives a massive water and sanitation project worth approximately Rs 923 crore (USD 110 million) funding from India at 28 islands covering seven percent of the population of the archipelagic nation. Jaishankar, who is on a three-day official visit, virtually inaugurated the projects at an event at President Mohammad Muizzu’s office here. This video is deleted now.
When we searched for the tweet by Dr Mohamed Muizzu, the tweet stated that there had been an official handover of water and sewerage projects in 28 islands of the Maldives. The tweet goes on to thank the Government of India, especially Prime Minister @narendramodi for always supporting the Maldives. It also states “Our enduring partnership continues to strengthen, bringing our nations closer through cooperation in security, development, and cultural exchange. Together, we build a brighter, more prosperous future for the region.”
Nowhere in the post, he states that he is handing over the Maldivian islands to India.
According to the report published by NDTV on August 11, 2024, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar handed over a major water and sanitation project worth USD 110 million to the Maldives, funded by India. The project spans over 28 islands. While addressing the virtual inauguration, S Jaishankar stated that the development partnership between India and the Maldives is focused on meeting the needs and priorities of the Maldivian people and government.
India Today report states that Jaishankar was on 3-day official visit to Male, Maldives stated that the Water and Sanitation projects on 28 islands, commissioned under the Indian Line of Credit Facility by the Exim Bank of India, were described by Jaishankar as the “largest climate adaptation implemented in the Maldives with international collaboration.”
Therefore, Indian foreign minister Jaishankar inaugurated a water and sanitation project that will cover 28 islands of Maldives. Ministers of both countries signed the agreement for this development project. The claim that all the 28 islands have been handed over to India by the Maldives government is False.
