Assalaam Alaikum and good evening
I would like to thank all of you for joining me this evening for Iftar on this Holy Month of Ramadan. As we approach the end of Ramadan, we are getting ready to welcome two important festivals: the first is the Eid al-Fitri, which we will celebrate at the end of Ramadan, in just a few days time. The other is our Golden Jubilee of Independence, that is on 26 of this month.
It was on 26 of July 1965 that the Maldives gained independence from Britain. Unlike many countries in our neighbourhood, the Maldives was never colonised. And unlike the colonies, the Maldives did not fight a war of independence. The independence movement that emerged in the mid-1950s comprised of Government leaders; the movement was in fact driven by the Government itself. The Maldives, of course, had its own self-government, because we were a British protectorate. Under the protectorate arrangement, the Maldives gave up its autonomy over the country’s foreign policy in return for security protection from Britain. In all other aspects of life, the Maldives had complete independence, including an unhindered autonomy to engage in international trade.
Yet, Prime Minister Ibrahim Nasir was of the view that for the Maldives, as isolated as it is in the Indian Ocean, foreign policy autonomy is fundamental, in implemnting a vital programme of modernisation. What we gained on 26 July 1965 was the ability to shape our own foreign policy; to engage in a mutually beneficial relationship with the friends of our own choosing; and to shape our own destiny.
Since then successive government in the Maldives pursued policies crafted in sustaining and strengthening that independence. President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom was keenly aware of the complexities and turbulence in our neighbourhood and beyond and crafted his foreign policy with a view of enhancing our independence. For President Gayoom, independence meant an upward shift in the Maldives’ ability to engage with the rest of the world. It was that philosophy that guided the extraordinary success that the Maldives accomplished in its diplomacy in 1980s, 1990s, and in the early 2000s. After President Gayoom left office, however, we became a little complacent in guarding the independence that we won in 1965. We appeared to be too ready to compromise the core values of the nation that President Amin Didi, President Nasir, and President Gayoom cultivated and helped to thrive.
It is precisely those core values that President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom is striving to cultivate again. This government believes that the Maldives can maintain the country’s independence only by intensifying our engagement with the rest of the world. It should be an engagement that is based on mutual respect, mutual trust, and one that is mutually beneficial. It is only then we would be able to shape a future for next generations; a future where our children can sustain the country’s independence; and a future where Maldivians can dream new hopes and realise their dreams.
Thank you