China: Male crisis should not affect ties with India

The under-construction China Maldives Friendship Bridge pictured near the city of Male. Pic/AFP

China on Friday said it is in touch with India to discuss a way to resolve the political turmoil gripping the Maldives and underlined that Beijing doesn't want the issue to become another "flashpoint" in ties with New Delhi. While China officially continues to maintain that there should not be any external interference, specially in the light of reports of India's special forces ready for deployment, Beijing is also in touch with New Delhi to resolve the crisis, Chinese sources said.

The stand-off between India and China in Dokalam and Beijing's opposition to declaring Masood Azhar as a global terrorist at the UN had been major irritants in bilateral ties. Answering a spate of questions on the Maldives, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the international community should respect independence of the Maldives.

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