WION &nbsp;spoke with the former President of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, in London. He spoke of the influence Saudi Arabia has had on the Maldives, the one China is trying to exert on it, and that it is imperative that the Maldives be a stable, democratic nation &ndash; for there has never been a stable Indian Ocean region without a stable Maldives.

Here is a full transcript of the interview.&nbsp;

Q: Thank you President Nasheed. Now you were the first democratically elected leader of the Maldives in 2008 supported by a coalition of opposition to President Gayoom. Why did you get into politics?

A: My joining politics was an accident of history. I started as a journalist. But every time I wrote, they arrested me. So I lost my twenties to jail. As an attempt to not be arrested, I became a member of Parliament. They arrested me. The arrests kept coming and finally we left the Maldives and formed a political party-in-exile in Sri Lanka and later in England. Through that, we were able to galvanise our people to political activism, amend the constitution and have our first multi-party election. So, because I was involved in all of this all throughout, right from &#39;89 up to 2005-2006, I had been working very hard. I was only writing, but I worked hard to defend human rights and freedom of expression. And I was fortunate to win that election in 2008.&nbsp;

Q: But by 2012 you were forced to resign and then later you had to go into exile a lot of pro-democracy supporters felt abandoned, why did you have to leave?

A: I was arrested after the election. After the coup, we went into another election in 2013. That was rigged. They kept nullifying the election results and going for another round, for as many rounds till they won it. Then we decided to be a loyal opposition and remain one. But in 6-7 months, President Yameen decided to arrest me. And then as a former President, I was in prison for one year. But I was able to leave on medical grounds with help from the UK, the US, India and Sri Lanka. I came to England and sought refuge here. I will go back. I intend to go back to the Maldives, hopefully soon. Yes it&rsquo;s sad I am not there. I miss the Maldives a lot. But unfortunately I have very little option.&nbsp;

Q: Now President Gayoom ruled the country for 30 years with an iron fist. He has been accused of being a despot and accused of torture but now you joining forces with him to try and oust the current president. Aren&rsquo;t you going to lose a lot of support from your backers?

A: I think there is a far greater need to get democracy back on track than me being popular. The issue is that the country must get back on a more democratic track. For that, everyone must join hands and try to find common ground. I am very happy that we&rsquo;ve managed to structure that coalition.&nbsp;

Q: Even though President Gayoom for many of your countrymen wouldn&#39;t represent democrarcy?

&nbsp;A: All of us, President Gayoom, myself, all other political leaders and the people of the Maldives, we&rsquo;ve learned a lot over the last 15 years. We&rsquo;ve experienced probably what other countries have gone through in 50 years. We went through the same in a period of 8-9 years. We&rsquo;ve all learned a lot and we must see that country is back on a proper democratic course. To do that, we must bring everyone together and isolate the President. Again, I am happy to be able to do that.&nbsp;

Q: Now there are rumours that President Gayoom asked for 100 thousand dollars from you to show your honesty and integrity and commitment to this and you have paid half of that sum. what do you say to that?

A: Anyone who knows me would know that I wouldn&rsquo;t have 50,000 dollars in my bank account. Right now, I have 6,000 pounds. And for me, 50,000 dollars is a lot of money. And I don&rsquo;t think President Gayoom, or anyone in the Maldives actually, would believe that. These are rumours and we must understand that. There are no facts whatsoever to this rumour. It would be silly wouldn&rsquo;t it? President Gayoom asking me for money! I don&rsquo;t think that would every happen and no, it did not happen.&nbsp;

Q: So who is benefiting from spreading these rumours?

A: It is President Yameen who is benefitting from spreading these rumours.&nbsp;

Q: This is all coming from President Yameen?

A: He has a rumour-mongering mill that produces all these false allegations. Then he even brings them up in courts through trumped-up charges &ndash; kangaroo courts I would argue &ndash; and then sentences people with no facts on hand whatsoever. I am afraid that even today as we speak, one of the bigger businessmen in the Maldives has been charged for bribing MPs. When President Gayoom left the government, there were about 17 MPs who crossed sides. That&rsquo;s all that happened. People who supported President Gayoom crossed over to the Opposition.&nbsp;

Q: You have previously said that the vice president is a victim rather than an accomplice to president Yameen. How so?

A: When I started getting to know former vice president Ahmed Adeeb, he was very young. He still is, &nbsp;about 32 I think. Then he came into politics, into a big job, and was given tasks by the President. You would know from the television documentary how President Yameen had tasked him to do all these things. I am not suggesting that he is innocent. But we must look into all the connections and the bigger picture of what was happening. So I think Adeeb was a victim.&nbsp;

Q: Well in the documentary there is certainly a lot of proof on his phone that he is connected.&nbsp;

A: Of course he is connected. I am not arguing that he isn&rsquo;t. But we must go through a proper investigation, a proper trial to finally say that. What I am saying is that he came into this because of President Yameen. Yameen inducted him into these wrongdoings.&nbsp;

Q: So he is a victim of persuasion?

A: Yes, a victim of persuasion. Power is a rather odd thing. You can get all sorts of people to do anything. When you are the President. And I am telling you after having been one. And I am telling you that President Yameen is in the business of bringing in young people to task them with things that he wants done.&nbsp;

Q: So as a President do you think you have overstepped the mark with power then?

A: I would agree.&nbsp;

Q: How so?

A: After 30 years of single-party rule autocracy, it is possible to topple a dictator. But it is not so easy to uproot a dictatorship. We have never had multi-party governance or multi-party politics in the Maldives. We are still very feudal and therefore to move from feudalism to pluralism overnight is not possible. So there have been instances. I am sure if you go into my government and analyse it you would see instances of the President &ndash; me &ndash; doing doing or envisaging things that he shouldn&rsquo;t have.&nbsp;

Q: Anything spring to mind?

A: One of the things was the schools and the health system. Especially the power houses. Our islands have local, small powerhouses. We have 196 islands and we wanted to, in our govt, consolidate all these powerhouses into a number of bigger companies. But these powerhouses were actually owned by islanders and we were too harsh in trying to get that back into a system. That was our intention. But what we actually did is to confiscate someone else&rsquo;s property.&nbsp;

Q: It is very brave to admit your failings.&nbsp;

A: We have to move forward and learn from our mistakes. I worry about these things. I worry about how we governed and therefore I sit down and think and try to come out with it.&nbsp;

Q: Now you have been shuttling from Sri Lanka to London where you now live. has either of these countries provided you with any support for your cause?

A: England has given me safe refuge. I have not done anything wrong in Sri Lanka according to Lankan law. So Sri Lanka being a free country, I can always go there. I meet the President, PM &ndash; I&rsquo;ve known them before they came to power and before I became President. I used to work in Sri Lanka as a journalist in the nineties. So I know the country and a number of people, their society. Sri Lankans are always helpful. I have always had the view that to stabilise the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka must play a more robust role. Sri Lanka has 20 million people, 500,000 soldiers and a booming economy &ndash; they are I think 3% of world trade. It&rsquo;s a good country to take more control.&nbsp;

Q: Now you have received support from Western human rights groups and the celebrity lawyer, Amal Clooney. Now some in South Asia are weary of these groups believing they have a geo-political agenda. What do you say to those concerns?

&nbsp;A: Pain is not a geo-political agenda. Human rights is not. You feel pain, I feel pain. If you torture anyone, you will feel the pain. So I think it is very important we try to eradicate human rights abuses and see we get proper and correct governance. I don&rsquo;t think or believe that South Asians would mistake me or our intentions. I have lived almost all my life in South Asia. I am a South Asian and I believe that South Asian people are aware of our predicament and what we are trying to do.&nbsp;

Q: Now the Maldives have always been a traditional but tolerant Islamic country but that seems to be changing. Do you believe that is the influence of Saudi Wahhabism?

A: The Saudis have propagated a very narrow version of Islam in the Maldives for the last 40 years. Therefore, a fair number of people of the Maldives have prescribed to that view of Islam. That has also created a breeding ground for more radical Islam &ndash; the ISIS and other jihadi groups. So I think yes that it is very unfortunate that this has happened and is going on. We must understand that any Islamic movement anywhere in the world is going to have an impact on the Maldives as well. But we must be mindful of what&rsquo;s happening and we must protect, we must make sure we maintain our way of life. We were brought up as Muslims. We remain Muslims and we remain understanding Muslims not at odds with the rest of the world.&nbsp;

Q: The highest number of South Asian jihadist have come from the Maldives. Where is this radical Islam coming from?

A: From the propagation of this very narrow version of Islam by the Saudis for the last 40 years &ndash; they have their imams, they have their mosques, and they are now wanting to change the school curriculum. Apparently, train our judiciary. Apparently, train our military. Apparently, they also want to purchase an atoll. They of course do want to come to holiday and they are very welcome to do that. But all the other work they have done in the last so many years, we are just waking up to it.&nbsp;

Q: It could be philanthropic motives. They could just want to help the Maldives.

A: It could be but unfortunately the vested interest in it and the strategic agenda behind it, it is now becoming very obvious.&nbsp;

Q: Any you think that is radical Islam?

A: I think it is more than radical Islam. They know that the West is not going to continue buying their oil. And they know that their biggest market would lie in Asia, in China. But you cannot cross the Indian Ocean without crossing the Maldives. You can&rsquo;t take your oil to China without crossing the Maldives. Therefore, the Maldives becomes strategically important. It is our strategic location that is our undoing and therefore they have strategic designs on the Maldives.&nbsp;

Q: Now China is making strides in the Indian Ocean, they have bought an atoll and that has New Delhi worried. What do you think the Chinese strategy is?

A: We have signed into the Chinese maritime silk route under President Yameen. Again, they want to safeguard and own shipping routes and trade routes. And again, our strategic location means that therefore they must have clout in the Maldives. They have, already, as you mentioned, bought a number of islands and are in the process of establishing strategic infrastructure on these islands. This is very, very unfortunate but it is happening at rapid speed and therefore we must be very, very mindful of what&rsquo;s going on. If you do not have a stable Maldives, you will not have a stable Indian Ocean. Historically, this has always been true.&nbsp;

Q: Does China&rsquo;s desire to dominate the Ocean worry you?

A: Yes, it does worry us tremendously. We have always been an independent country for the last 2,000-3,000 years and we have a language of our own, a written history that goes back 1,500 years and we like to have control over our affairs. We like to be asked.&nbsp;

Q: You think that China&rsquo;s influence, buying the islands, means that China wants to control the Maldives?

A: It is difficult to see how the Chinese could do anything other than control the Maldives. Our biggest worry is human rights. And they are not concerned about democracy and governance. This is no reason not to like the Chinese &ndash; we do like the Chinese people, that&rsquo;s not the issue here. The issue is that they have a single-party state and want to impress their ideas, their views, their ways on us and we don&rsquo;t like that.&nbsp;

&nbsp;Q: Now many people will remember your high publicised underwater cabinet meeting on the ocean floor to highlight the rising sea levels. Was that a publicity stunt?

A: Our means are very modest we don&rsquo;t have large funds for publicity. When we went to the 2009 Copenhagen summit, we were of the view that the international community must understand the gravity of the issue, especially about low-lying islands. We asked a publicity company but they quoted a huge figure which we couldn&rsquo;t pay. So we thought let&rsquo;s give it a shot ourselves. And came up with this idea. The objective was to impress upon the international community the gravity of the issue. And I hope that we achieved, and I believe we achieved, that objective.&nbsp;

Q: How serious is climate change for the Maldives? Is it the most pressing issue?

A: Climate change is the most pressing issue. We will not be there. Sea levels will rise. It&rsquo;s a done deal now. So, we must go into more adaptation, we must find ways how we may be able to survive after climate change.&nbsp;

Q: There is no reversing?

A: There is no reversing this, with respect to the Maldives. The planet is going to get hotter by 2 degrees. Because we already have 400 parts per million of carbon in our atmosphere, the planet is heating. Our coral is bleaching, the seas are rising, the glaciers are melting &ndash; we can see all this already. It is very obvious. You can&rsquo;t cut a deal with physics. You can&rsquo;t negotiate with the laws of science and it is madness to think we could find other solutions. No, we can&rsquo;t. Unfortunately, we are now faced with this predicament, this difficulty, and now the only option available to us would be heavy adaptation. And even in adaptation, the most important measures are democracy, governance and protection of human rights. Without that, you do the wrong things, build the wrong water breakers at the wrong places, you do everything wrong. So first is democracy and then, perhaps better adaptation methods. Again, I would seek more biological natural adaptation than concrete adaptation.&nbsp;

Q: Were you then dismayed when you heard the American President, Donald Trump, say that climate change isn&rsquo;t happening?

A: The American people would understand and would know. I don&rsquo;t think any politician can change these facts. We can say these things. There are people who still don&rsquo;t believe that man landed on the moon. Even in the Maldives, I&rsquo;ve met many such. But that doesn&rsquo;t mean people didn&rsquo;t go to the moon. Again, the science is sorted.&nbsp;

Q: But he is not any man. He is the President of the United States.Does that not worry you?

A: Well, we have to respect the decision of the people of the United States. They decided to elect a P:resident as they always do. And for all sorts of reasons we now have one whom some of the liberal left do not like. But we have seen so many Republican presidents. People had reservations about them but they came out looking like having done good work. I&rsquo;ll point to President Reagan.&nbsp;

Q: So you have hope.&nbsp;

A: Because I am a centre-right politician!

Q: Have you met Prime Minister Modi?

A: I have met PM Modi before he became PM. But when the election happened, I was in jail so I didn&rsquo;t have an opportunity to meet him as PM.&nbsp;

Q: What do you make of him as a leader?

A: I think he is an excellent leader. I quite like the way he is going about it. Indian development is so rapid and for the benefit of not only South Asia but the rest of the world as well.&nbsp;

&nbsp;Q: Now India has been providing financial aid to the Maldives - supporting a hospital and even the army - are you somewhat disappointed that democratic India is supporting the current government and not backing your cause?

A: No, I am not disappointed. I think India should always be engaged in the Maldives no matter who is in government. think it would be highly irresponsible if the Indian government did not do that.&nbsp;

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<div class="media-description">
WION&#39;s Amanda Clark spoke with the former President of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, in London. He talks about the influence Saudi Arabia has had on the Maldives, China&#39;s desire to dominate the Indian ocean, Indian PM Modi and more. (WION)
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&nbsp;

Mohamed Nasheed added that 'India should always be engaged in the Maldives no matter who is in government'

WION spoke with the former President of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, in London. He spoke of the influence Saudi Arabia has had on the Maldives, the one China is trying to exert on it, and that it is imperative that the Maldives be a stable, democratic nation – for there has never been a stable Indian Ocean region without a stable Maldives. Here is a full transcript of the interview. Q: Thank you President Nasheed. Now you were the first democratically elected leader of the Maldives in 2008 supported by a coalition of opposition to President Gayoom. Why did you get into politics? A: My joining politics was an accident of history. I started as a journalist. But every time I wrote, they arrested me. So I lost my twenties to jail. As an attempt to not be arrested, I became a member of Parliament. They arrested me. The arrests kept coming and finally we left the Maldives and formed a political party-in-exile in Sri Lanka and later in England. Through that, we were able to galvanise our people to political activism, amend the constitution and have our first multi-party election. So, because I was involved in all of this all throughout, right from '89 up to 2005-2006, I had been working very hard. I was only writing, but I worked hard to defend human rights and freedom of expression. And I was fortunate to win that election in 2008. Q: But by 2012 you were forced to resign and then later you had to go into exile a lot of pro-democracy supporters felt abandoned, why did you have to leave? A: I was arrested after the election. After the coup, we went into another election in 2013. That was rigged. They kept nullifying the election results and going for another round, for as many rounds till they won it. Then we decided to be a loyal opposition and remain one. But in 6-7 months, President Yameen decided to arrest me. And then as a former President, I was in prison for one year. But I was able to leave on medical grounds with help from the UK, the US, India and Sri Lanka. I came to England and sought refuge here. I will go back. I intend to go back to the Maldives, hopefully soon. Yes it’s sad I am not there. I miss the Maldives a lot. But unfortunately I have very little option. Q: Now President Gayoom ruled the country for 30 years with an iron fist. He has been accused of being a despot and accused of torture but now you joining forces with him to try and oust the current president. Aren’t you going to lose a lot of support from your backers? A: I think there is a far greater need to get democracy back on track than me being popular. The issue is that the country must get back on a more democratic track. For that, everyone must join hands and try to find common ground. I am very happy that we’ve managed to structure that coalition. Q: Even though President Gayoom for many of your countrymen wouldn't represent democrarcy? A: All of us, President Gayoom, myself, all other political leaders and the people of the Maldives, we’ve learned a lot over the last 15 years. We’ve experienced probably what other countries have gone through in 50 years. We went through the same in a period of 8-9 years. We’ve all learned a lot and we must see that country is back on a proper democratic course. To do that, we must bring everyone together and isolate the President. Again, I am happy to be able to do that. Q: Now there are rumours that President Gayoom asked for 100 thousand dollars from you to show your honesty and integrity and commitment to this and you have paid half of that sum. what do you say to that? A: Anyone who knows me would know that I wouldn’t have 50,000 dollars in my bank account. Right now, I have 6,000 pounds. And for me, 50,000 dollars is a lot of money. And I don’t think President Gayoom, or anyone in the Maldives actually, would believe that. These are rumours and we must understand that. There are no facts whatsoever to this rumour. It would be silly wouldn’t it? President Gayoom asking me for money! I don’t think that would every happen and no, it did not happen. Q: So who is benefiting from spreading these rumours? A: It is President Yameen who is benefitting from spreading these rumours. Q: This is all coming from President Yameen? A: He has a rumour-mongering mill that produces all these false allegations. Then he even brings them up in courts through trumped-up charges – kangaroo courts I would argue – and then sentences people with no facts on hand whatsoever. I am afraid that even today as we speak, one of the bigger businessmen in the Maldives has been charged for bribing MPs. When President Gayoom left the government, there were about 17 MPs who crossed sides. That’s all that happened. People who supported President Gayoom crossed over to the Opposition. Q: You have previously said that the vice president is a victim rather than an accomplice to president Yameen. How so? A: When I started getting to know former vice president Ahmed Adeeb, he was very young. He still is, about 32 I think. Then he came into politics, into a big job, and was given tasks by the President. You would know from the television documentary how President Yameen had tasked him to do all these things. I am not suggesting that he is innocent. But we must look into all the connections and the bigger picture of what was happening. So I think Adeeb was a victim. Q: Well in the documentary there is certainly a lot of proof on his phone that he is connected. A: Of course he is connected. I am not arguing that he isn’t. But we must go through a proper investigation, a proper trial to finally say that. What I am saying is that he came into this because of President Yameen. Yameen inducted him into these wrongdoings. Q: So he is a victim of persuasion? A: Yes, a victim of persuasion. Power is a rather odd thing. You can get all sorts of people to do anything. When you are the President. And I am telling you after having been one. And I am telling you that President Yameen is in the business of bringing in young people to task them with things that he wants done. Q: So as a President do you think you have overstepped the mark with power then? A: I would agree. Q: How so? A: After 30 years of single-party rule autocracy, it is possible to topple a dictator. But it is not so easy to uproot a dictatorship. We have never had multi-party governance or multi-party politics in the Maldives. We are still very feudal and therefore to move from feudalism to pluralism overnight is not possible. So there have been instances. I am sure if you go into my government and analyse it you would see instances of the President – me – doing doing or envisaging things that he shouldn’t have. Q: Anything spring to mind? A: One of the things was the schools and the health system. Especially the power houses. Our islands have local, small powerhouses. We have 196 islands and we wanted to, in our govt, consolidate all these powerhouses into a number of bigger companies. But these powerhouses were actually owned by islanders and we were too harsh in trying to get that back into a system. That was our intention. But what we actually did is to confiscate someone else’s property. Q: It is very brave to admit your failings. A: We have to move forward and learn from our mistakes. I worry about these things. I worry about how we governed and therefore I sit down and think and try to come out with it. Q: Now you have been shuttling from Sri Lanka to London where you now live. has either of these countries provided you with any support for your cause? A: England has given me safe refuge. I have not done anything wrong in Sri Lanka according to Lankan law. So Sri Lanka being a free country, I can always go there. I meet the President, PM – I’ve known them before they came to power and before I became President. I used to work in Sri Lanka as a journalist in the nineties. So I know the country and a number of people, their society. Sri Lankans are always helpful. I have always had the view that to stabilise the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka must play a more robust role. Sri Lanka has 20 million people, 500,000 soldiers and a booming economy – they are I think 3% of world trade. It’s a good country to take more control. Q: Now you have received support from Western human rights groups and the celebrity lawyer, Amal Clooney. Now some in South Asia are weary of these groups believing they have a geo-political agenda. What do you say to those concerns? A: Pain is not a geo-political agenda. Human rights is not. You feel pain, I feel pain. If you torture anyone, you will feel the pain. So I think it is very important we try to eradicate human rights abuses and see we get proper and correct governance. I don’t think or believe that South Asians would mistake me or our intentions. I have lived almost all my life in South Asia. I am a South Asian and I believe that South Asian people are aware of our predicament and what we are trying to do. Q: Now the Maldives have always been a traditional but tolerant Islamic country but that seems to be changing. Do you believe that is the influence of Saudi Wahhabism? A: The Saudis have propagated a very narrow version of Islam in the Maldives for the last 40 years. Therefore, a fair number of people of the Maldives have prescribed to that view of Islam. That has also created a breeding ground for more radical Islam – the ISIS and other jihadi groups. So I think yes that it is very unfortunate that this has happened and is going on. We must understand that any Islamic movement anywhere in the world is going to have an impact on the Maldives as well. But we must be mindful of what’s happening and we must protect, we must make sure we maintain our way of life. We were brought up as Muslims. We remain Muslims and we remain understanding Muslims not at odds with the rest of the world. Q: The highest number of South Asian jihadist have come from the Maldives. Where is this radical Islam coming from? A: From the propagation of this very narrow version of Islam by the Saudis for the last 40 years – they have their imams, they have their mosques, and they are now wanting to change the school curriculum. Apparently, train our judiciary. Apparently, train our military. Apparently, they also want to purchase an atoll. They of course do want to come to holiday and they are very welcome to do that. But all the other work they have done in the last so many years, we are just waking up to it. Q: It could be philanthropic motives. They could just want to help the Maldives. A: It could be but unfortunately the vested interest in it and the strategic agenda behind it, it is now becoming very obvious. Q: Any you think that is radical Islam? A: I think it is more than radical Islam. They know that the West is not going to continue buying their oil. And they know that their biggest market would lie in Asia, in China. But you cannot cross the Indian Ocean without crossing the Maldives. You can’t take your oil to China without crossing the Maldives. Therefore, the Maldives becomes strategically important. It is our strategic location that is our undoing and therefore they have strategic designs on the Maldives. Q: Now China is making strides in the Indian Ocean, they have bought an atoll and that has New Delhi worried. What do you think the Chinese strategy is? A: We have signed into the Chinese maritime silk route under President Yameen. Again, they want to safeguard and own shipping routes and trade routes. And again, our strategic location means that therefore they must have clout in the Maldives. They have, already, as you mentioned, bought a number of islands and are in the process of establishing strategic infrastructure on these islands. This is very, very unfortunate but it is happening at rapid speed and therefore we must be very, very mindful of what’s going on. If you do not have a stable Maldives, you will not have a stable Indian Ocean. Historically, this has always been true. Q: Does China’s desire to dominate the Ocean worry you? A: Yes, it does worry us tremendously. We have always been an independent country for the last 2,000-3,000 years and we have a language of our own, a written history that goes back 1,500 years and we like to have control over our affairs. We like to be asked. Q: You think that China’s influence, buying the islands, means that China wants to control the Maldives? A: It is difficult to see how the Chinese could do anything other than control the Maldives. Our biggest worry is human rights. And they are not concerned about democracy and governance. This is no reason not to like the Chinese – we do like the Chinese people, that’s not the issue here. The issue is that they have a single-party state and want to impress their ideas, their views, their ways on us and we don’t like that. Q: Now many people will remember your high publicised underwater cabinet meeting on the ocean floor to highlight the rising sea levels. Was that a publicity stunt? A: Our means are very modest we don’t have large funds for publicity. When we went to the 2009 Copenhagen summit, we were of the view that the international community must understand the gravity of the issue, especially about low-lying islands. We asked a publicity company but they quoted a huge figure which we couldn’t pay. So we thought let’s give it a shot ourselves. And came up with this idea. The objective was to impress upon the international community the gravity of the issue. And I hope that we achieved, and I believe we achieved, that objective. Q: How serious is climate change for the Maldives? Is it the most pressing issue? A: Climate change is the most pressing issue. We will not be there. Sea levels will rise. It’s a done deal now. So, we must go into more adaptation, we must find ways how we may be able to survive after climate change. Q: There is no reversing? A: There is no reversing this, with respect to the Maldives. The planet is going to get hotter by 2 degrees. Because we already have 400 parts per million of carbon in our atmosphere, the planet is heating. Our coral is bleaching, the seas are rising, the glaciers are melting – we can see all this already. It is very obvious. You can’t cut a deal with physics. You can’t negotiate with the laws of science and it is madness to think we could find other solutions. No, we can’t. Unfortunately, we are now faced with this predicament, this difficulty, and now the only option available to us would be heavy adaptation. And even in adaptation, the most important measures are democracy, governance and protection of human rights. Without that, you do the wrong things, build the wrong water breakers at the wrong places, you do everything wrong. So first is democracy and then, perhaps better adaptation methods. Again, I would seek more biological natural adaptation than concrete adaptation. Q: Were you then dismayed when you heard the American President, Donald Trump, say that climate change isn’t happening? A: The American people would understand and would know. I don’t think any politician can change these facts. We can say these things. There are people who still don’t believe that man landed on the moon. Even in the Maldives, I’ve met many such. But that doesn’t mean people didn’t go to the moon. Again, the science is sorted. Q: But he is not any man. He is the President of the United States.Does that not worry you? A: Well, we have to respect the decision of the people of the United States. They decided to elect a P:resident as they always do. And for all sorts of reasons we now have one whom some of the liberal left do not like. But we have seen so many Republican presidents. People had reservations about them but they came out looking like having done good work. I’ll point to President Reagan. Q: So you have hope. A: Because I am a centre-right politician! Q: Have you met Prime Minister Modi? A: I have met PM Modi before he became PM. But when the election happened, I was in jail so I didn’t have an opportunity to meet him as PM. Q: What do you make of him as a leader? A: I think he is an excellent leader. I quite like the way he is going about it. Indian development is so rapid and for the benefit of not only South Asia but the rest of the world as well. Q: Now India has been providing financial aid to the Maldives - supporting a hospital and even the army - are you somewhat disappointed that democratic India is supporting the current government and not backing your cause? A: No, I am not disappointed. I think India should always be engaged in the Maldives no matter who is in government. think it would be highly irresponsible if the Indian government did not do that. WION's Amanda Clark spoke with the former President of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, in London. He talks about the influence Saudi Arabia has had on the Maldives, China's desire to dominate the Indian ocean, Indian PM Modi and more. (WION) ×

It is difficult to see how the Chinese could do anything other than control the Maldives: Ex-Maldives president

At least 84 are dead, including more than 10 children, after a truck slammed into a crowd late Thursday night in the southern French city of Nice.&nbsp; 
 
About 30 000 were out celebrating France&rsquo;s Bastille Day, their day of liberty. Many families stayed up late to watch the fireworks. Eyewitnesses say the truck was driving at full speed towards the crowds, zigzagging to ensure the driver hit as many people as possible. Parents were seen frantically throwing their children out of harm&rsquo;s way. 
 
The driver, a 31-year-old Frenchman of Tunisian descent, was shot dead by police at the scene. He has been identified by local media as Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel. Guns and a grenade were found inside the truck but are reported to be fakes. 
 
According to Tunisian security sources, the attacker Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was married and had three children. He visited Tunisia frequently, the last time eight months ago. 
 
Lahouaiej-Bouhlel had been in trouble with the police in the past for petty crime, but he was not on the watch list of radicalised young men. 
 
A photograph showed the front of the truck riddled with bullet holes and badly damaged, with burst tyres. 
 
A lone doll lay abandoned on the promenade where families celebrated the holiday just hours earlier. 
 
Robert Holloway, an AFP reporter who witnessed the white truck driving at speed into the crowd, described scenes of &quot;absolute chaos&quot;. 
 
&quot;We saw people hit and bits of debris flying around. I had to protect my face from flying debris,&quot; Holloway said. 
 
On Twitter, people mobilised fast, with citizens offering safe refuge under the hashtag #PortesOuvertesNice (Nice Open Doors). 
 
An account called SOS Nice was set up where desperate pleas for news of missing loved ones went out with pictures of a young girl with braces or a teenager pulling a funny face among those posted. 
 
Some were quickly tracked down, according to relieved tweets. 
 
French President Francois Hollande said 50 injured were in a critical condition &quot;between life and death&rdquo; and many of the victims were foreigners. Two American citizens, a Ukrainian, a Russian and a Swiss woman are among the dead. 
 
Hollande has announced that he will extend the state of emergency for another three months. It has been in place since November&#39;s Paris attacks carried out by Islamic State militants&nbsp;in which 130 died.&nbsp; 
 
&#39;Horrific terrorist attack&#39; 
 
The attack is the third major strike against France in less than 18 months and prosecutors said anti-terrorist investigators will handle the probe. 
 
The Islamic State group has repeatedly singled out France as a prime target for its military actions against the group in Iraq and Syria, and hundreds of jihadists have left France to go and fight in its ranks. 
 
Luc Belmont, a taxi driver in Nice, said &ldquo;the people of Nice are enraged at what has happened and heartbroken too.&rdquo;&nbsp; 
 
But Belmont believes the blame lies with the authorities. &ldquo;You reap what you sow. These people are getting radicalised in our own jails. We need to stop it there, we have not been dealing with this problem.&rdquo;&nbsp; 
 
The French police are still dealing with a scene of a mass murder that extends over two kilometres. Before there can be tributes to the victims, they have to fully investigate and clear the crime scene. 
 
World leaders expressed their sadness and their solidarity with France. 
 
US President Barack Obama condemned &quot;in the strongest terms&quot; what he said appeared to be &quot;a horrific terrorist attack in Nice&rdquo; 
 
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote &ldquo;India shares the pain &amp; stands firmly with our French sisters &amp; brothers in this hour of immense sadness.&rdquo;&nbsp; 
 
While, UK Prime Minister Theresa May said she was &quot;shocked and saddened by the horrifying attack in Nice&quot; 
 
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has declared three days of national mourning, starting from Saturday. 
 
&#39;He crushed a lot of people&#39; 
 
The Mediterranean city of Nice, with its pebble beaches and clear blue water, has been a magnet for sun-seekers and the jet-set since the 19th century. 
 
A witness named Nader told BFM television he had seen the whole attack from start to finish&nbsp;and had initially thought the driver had &quot;lost control&quot;. 
 
&quot;I was in the street. He stopped just in front of me after he (crushed) a lot of people. I saw a guy in the street, we were trying to speak to the driver to get him to stop.&quot; 
 
&quot;He looked nervous. There was a girl under the car, he smashed her. The guy next to me pulled her out,&quot; he said in broken English. 
 
Nadr said he saw the driver pull out a gun and start shooting at police. 
 
&quot;They killed him and his head was out the window.&quot; 
 
The Promenade des Anglais was sealed off, crawling with police and ambulances as authorities from the local Alpes-Maritimes prefecture urged residents to stay indoors. 
 
Over the past week, France had been breathing a sigh of relief after successfully hosting the month-long Euro 2016 football championship&nbsp;which passed off without incident despite fears of attacks. 
 
The tournament brought an all-too-brief burst of joy to a gloomy France, bogged down after the two attacks in 2015, violent anti-government protests, strikes and floods. 
 
European Council president Donald Tusk said: &quot;It&#39;s a sad day for France, for Europe, for all of us.&quot; 
 
&quot;The subjects of the attack were people celebrating liberty, equality and fraternity.&quot;&nbsp; 
 
(WION with inputs from AFP)

Driver shot dead. Authorities find identity papers belonging to a 31-year-old French-Tunisian citizen in the truck

At least 84 are dead, including more than 10 children, after a truck slammed into a crowd late Thursday night in the southern French city of Nice. About 30 000 were out celebrating France’s Bastille Day, their day of liberty. Many families stayed up late to watch the fireworks. Eyewitnesses say the truck was driving at full speed towards the crowds, zigzagging to ensure the driver hit as many people as possible. Parents were seen frantically throwing their children out of harm’s way. The driver, a 31-year-old Frenchman of Tunisian descent, was shot dead by police at the scene. He has been identified by local media as Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel. Guns and a grenade were found inside the truck but are reported to be fakes. According to Tunisian security sources, the attacker Lahouaiej-Bouhlel was married and had three children. He visited Tunisia frequently, the last time eight months ago. Lahouaiej-Bouhlel had been in trouble with the police in the past for petty crime, but he was not on the watch list of radicalised young men. A photograph showed the front of the truck riddled with bullet holes and badly damaged, with burst tyres. A lone doll lay abandoned on the promenade where families celebrated the holiday just hours earlier. Robert Holloway, an AFP reporter who witnessed the white truck driving at speed into the crowd, described scenes of "absolute chaos". "We saw people hit and bits of debris flying around. I had to protect my face from flying debris," Holloway said. On Twitter, people mobilised fast, with citizens offering safe refuge under the hashtag #PortesOuvertesNice (Nice Open Doors). An account called SOS Nice was set up where desperate pleas for news of missing loved ones went out with pictures of a young girl with braces or a teenager pulling a funny face among those posted. Some were quickly tracked down, according to relieved tweets. French President Francois Hollande said 50 injured were in a critical condition "between life and death” and many of the victims were foreigners. Two American citizens, a Ukrainian, a Russian and a Swiss woman are among the dead. Hollande has announced that he will extend the state of emergency for another three months. It has been in place since November's Paris attacks carried out by Islamic State militants in which 130 died. 'Horrific terrorist attack' The attack is the third major strike against France in less than 18 months and prosecutors said anti-terrorist investigators will handle the probe. The Islamic State group has repeatedly singled out France as a prime target for its military actions against the group in Iraq and Syria, and hundreds of jihadists have left France to go and fight in its ranks. Luc Belmont, a taxi driver in Nice, said “the people of Nice are enraged at what has happened and heartbroken too.” But Belmont believes the blame lies with the authorities. “You reap what you sow. These people are getting radicalised in our own jails. We need to stop it there, we have not been dealing with this problem.” The French police are still dealing with a scene of a mass murder that extends over two kilometres. Before there can be tributes to the victims, they have to fully investigate and clear the crime scene. World leaders expressed their sadness and their solidarity with France. US President Barack Obama condemned "in the strongest terms" what he said appeared to be "a horrific terrorist attack in Nice” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote “India shares the pain & stands firmly with our French sisters & brothers in this hour of immense sadness.” While, UK Prime Minister Theresa May said she was "shocked and saddened by the horrifying attack in Nice" French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has declared three days of national mourning, starting from Saturday. 'He crushed a lot of people' The Mediterranean city of Nice, with its pebble beaches and clear blue water, has been a magnet for sun-seekers and the jet-set since the 19th century. A witness named Nader told BFM television he had seen the whole attack from start to finish and had initially thought the driver had "lost control". "I was in the street. He stopped just in front of me after he (crushed) a lot of people. I saw a guy in the street, we were trying to speak to the driver to get him to stop." "He looked nervous. There was a girl under the car, he smashed her. The guy next to me pulled her out," he said in broken English. Nadr said he saw the driver pull out a gun and start shooting at police. "They killed him and his head was out the window." The Promenade des Anglais was sealed off, crawling with police and ambulances as authorities from the local Alpes-Maritimes prefecture urged residents to stay indoors. Over the past week, France had been breathing a sigh of relief after successfully hosting the month-long Euro 2016 football championship which passed off without incident despite fears of attacks. The tournament brought an all-too-brief burst of joy to a gloomy France, bogged down after the two attacks in 2015, violent anti-government protests, strikes and floods. European Council president Donald Tusk said: "It's a sad day for France, for Europe, for all of us." "The subjects of the attack were people celebrating liberty, equality and fraternity." (WION with inputs from AFP)

At least 84 dead in Nice, France after 19-tonne truck ploughs two kilometres through Bastille Day crowd

It&rsquo;s been only a week since the UK took the decision to Brexit but that one vote has altered the Britain I thought I knew. Born and raised in Canada, I have spent most of my professional life in the UK. It was my adopted home. I loved it and, in turn, I hoped it loved me.&nbsp; 
 
It doesn&rsquo;t. 
 
The vote to leave was largely an anti-immigrant vote and the Leave campaign seems to have given legitimacy to the ugliest facets of society &ndash; xenophobia and racism. 
 
I have spent the week interviewing experts on what the vote means for Britain. It turns out some of the brightest minds are foreign-born &ndash; an American risk analyst, an Indian economics professor, a Belarussian negotiation expert, and a Slovenian international economics expert. 
 
We had all considered the vibrant international capital of London home... but there&#39;s doubt seeping in now. Our beloved city has grown an ugly underbelly. The Slovenian economics expert put it best.&nbsp; 
 
His 26-year-old son, raised in Britain since he was a year old, called him after the vote. &ldquo;They don&rsquo;t like us. They don&rsquo;t want us,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp; 
 
We are &ldquo;the other&rdquo;. 
 
The American is considering returning to New York or perhaps Frankfurt; he has German roots and can get a passport. The Indian says she might take European job offers more seriously, and the Belarussian believes England is an uglier place now and wonders if it is the right place to raise her son. 
 
It has gotten ugly &ndash; fast. There has been a 57% rise in racist abuse after the Brexit vote, according to the National Police Chiefs&rsquo; Council. &nbsp; 
 
There&#39;s been racist graffiti scrawled on a Polish community centre in London. Letters stuffed through the doors of Polish families calling them &ldquo;Polish vermin&rdquo;, Muslims threatened with violence, an African American man verbally abused by teenagers in Manchester, a woman of South Asian descent born in Britain told to &ldquo;go home&rdquo; -- she swiftly retorted, &ldquo;I AM HOME&rdquo; -- and children of foreign parents taunted at schools.&nbsp; 
 
It all makes me sick. 
 
Then I wonder if this &ldquo;sudden&rdquo; surge of hatred for immigrants &ndash; &ldquo;the other&rdquo; &ndash; has always been there. Bubbling under the surface. Do the postman, the bartender, and the saleswoman all quietly judge me as soon as I open my mouth? Are they also wishing I would just go home? 
 
If this is the real Britain, well, I don&rsquo;t love you either and in this break-up, it&rsquo;s not me &ndash; it&rsquo;s you.

UK has seen a 57 per cent rise in racist abuse since it decided to exit the EU and Clark, a Canadian, suddenly finds herself as 'the other'

It’s been only a week since the UK took the decision to Brexit but that one vote has altered the Britain I thought I knew. Born and raised in Canada, I have spent most of my professional life in the UK. It was my adopted home. I loved it and, in turn, I hoped it loved me. It doesn’t. The vote to leave was largely an anti-immigrant vote and the Leave campaign seems to have given legitimacy to the ugliest facets of society – xenophobia and racism. I have spent the week interviewing experts on what the vote means for Britain. It turns out some of the brightest minds are foreign-born – an American risk analyst, an Indian economics professor, a Belarussian negotiation expert, and a Slovenian international economics expert. We had all considered the vibrant international capital of London home... but there's doubt seeping in now. Our beloved city has grown an ugly underbelly. The Slovenian economics expert put it best. His 26-year-old son, raised in Britain since he was a year old, called him after the vote. “They don’t like us. They don’t want us,” he said. We are “the other”. The American is considering returning to New York or perhaps Frankfurt; he has German roots and can get a passport. The Indian says she might take European job offers more seriously, and the Belarussian believes England is an uglier place now and wonders if it is the right place to raise her son. It has gotten ugly – fast. There has been a 57% rise in racist abuse after the Brexit vote, according to the National Police Chiefs’ Council. There's been racist graffiti scrawled on a Polish community centre in London. Letters stuffed through the doors of Polish families calling them “Polish vermin”, Muslims threatened with violence, an African American man verbally abused by teenagers in Manchester, a woman of South Asian descent born in Britain told to “go home” -- she swiftly retorted, “I AM HOME” -- and children of foreign parents taunted at schools. It all makes me sick. Then I wonder if this “sudden” surge of hatred for immigrants – “the other” – has always been there. Bubbling under the surface. Do the postman, the bartender, and the saleswoman all quietly judge me as soon as I open my mouth? Are they also wishing I would just go home? If this is the real Britain, well, I don’t love you either and in this break-up, it’s not me – it’s you.

If this is the real Britain, then I don't love you

Britain has been left deeply shocked after&nbsp;Labour&nbsp;member of&nbsp;Parliament&nbsp;Jo Cox was murdered on the streets of her constituency. She died after she was shot at least two times and stabbed in West Yorkshire.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
The 41-year-old politician was kicked and left lying bleeding on the pavement in&nbsp;Birstall, near Leeds,&nbsp;an eyewitness said.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
A second witness reported three shots&nbsp;including one &quot;round the head area&quot;.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
She was married with two young daughters aged three and five. Her husband, Brendan Cox, said in a statement that his wife &quot;believed in a better world and she fought for it every day of her life with an energy, and a zest for life&quot;.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
He also urged people to &quot;fight against the hatred that killed her&quot;. &quot;Hate doesn&#39;t have a creed, race or religion, it is poisonous.&quot;&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
A fifty-two-year-old man has been arrested over the attack. He has been named locally as Tommy&nbsp;Mair. He was described by&nbsp;neighbours&nbsp;as&nbsp;a loner who never had a full-time job and had suffered mental illness in the past.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
Police say they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the shooting.&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
British Prime Minister&nbsp;David Cameron paid tribute to the&nbsp;Labour&nbsp;politician saying, &nbsp;&quot;We&#39;ve lost a great star. She had a big heart and people are going to be very, very sad at what has happened.&quot;&nbsp; 
 
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Q0wbnxAVRDw" width="560"></iframe> 
&nbsp; 
Labour&nbsp;leader&nbsp;Jeremy&nbsp;Corbyn&nbsp;said the country will be &quot;in shock at the horrific murder&quot; and said that&nbsp;Ms&nbsp;Cox was a &quot;much loved colleague&quot;.&nbsp;&nbsp; 
&nbsp; 
The EU referendum Remain and Leave campaigns suspended their activities for Thursday and Friday as a result of the attack&nbsp;and David Cameron cancelled a pro-EU rally in Gibraltar.&nbsp;

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Incredibly sad to hear shocking news about Jo Cox. All my thoughts with Brendan and their children
&mdash; George Osborne (@George_Osborne) <a href="https://twitter.com/George_Osborne/status/743478309338636288">June 16, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="~/platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Extremely sad news of the murder of Jo Cox MP, killed whilst serving her constituents, thinking of all who knew her
&mdash; Chloe Smith (@NorwichChloe) <a href="https://twitter.com/NorwichChloe/status/743487945802399745">June 16, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="~/platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Hoping, praying and thinking of Jo, Brendan and the children. GB
&mdash; Gordon &amp; Sarah Brown (@OfficeGSBrown) <a href="https://twitter.com/OfficeGSBrown/status/743441830713384960">June 16, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="~/platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Absolutely devastated at Jo Cox death, a beautiful person, a wonderful caring and decent person, R.I.P. friend <a href="https://t.co/LdKMlYOM0c">pic.twitter.com/LdKMlYOM0c</a>
&mdash; Angela Rayner MP (@AngelaRayner) <a href="https://twitter.com/AngelaRayner/status/743485648854728704">June 16, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="~/platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Absolutely devastating news that the wonderful, beautiful &amp; brilliant <a href="https://twitter.com/Jo_Cox1">@Jo_Cox1</a> has died. All my thoughts are with Brendan &amp; her children
&mdash; Lucy Powell MP (@LucyMPowell) <a href="https://twitter.com/LucyMPowell/status/743477884531138560">June 16, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="~/platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Please pray for our friend Jo Cox and her lovely staff and wonderful family x
&mdash; Wes Streeting MP (@wesstreeting) <a href="https://twitter.com/wesstreeting/status/743437508743172096">June 16, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="~/platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script>

She was shot, stabbed, kicked, and left lying bleeding on a pavement

Britain has been left deeply shocked after Labour member of Parliament Jo Cox was murdered on the streets of her constituency. She died after she was shot at least two times and stabbed in West Yorkshire. The 41-year-old politician was kicked and left lying bleeding on the pavement in Birstall, near Leeds, an eyewitness said. A second witness reported three shots including one "round the head area". She was married with two young daughters aged three and five. Her husband, Brendan Cox, said in a statement that his wife "believed in a better world and she fought for it every day of her life with an energy, and a zest for life". He also urged people to "fight against the hatred that killed her". "Hate doesn't have a creed, race or religion, it is poisonous." A fifty-two-year-old man has been arrested over the attack. He has been named locally as Tommy Mair. He was described by neighbours as a loner who never had a full-time job and had suffered mental illness in the past. Police say they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the shooting. British Prime Minister David Cameron paid tribute to the Labour politician saying, "We've lost a great star. She had a big heart and people are going to be very, very sad at what has happened." Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the country will be "in shock at the horrific murder" and said that Ms Cox was a "much loved colleague". The EU referendum Remain and Leave campaigns suspended their activities for Thursday and Friday as a result of the attack and David Cameron cancelled a pro-EU rally in Gibraltar. Incredibly sad to hear shocking news about Jo Cox. All my thoughts with Brendan and their children — George Osborne (@George_Osborne) June 16, 2016 Extremely sad news of the murder of Jo Cox MP, killed whilst serving her constituents, thinking of all who knew her — Chloe Smith (@NorwichChloe) June 16, 2016 Hoping, praying and thinking of Jo, Brendan and the children. GB — Gordon & Sarah Brown (@OfficeGSBrown) June 16, 2016 Absolutely devastated at Jo Cox death, a beautiful person, a wonderful caring and decent person, R.I.P. friend pic.twitter.com/LdKMlYOM0c — Angela Rayner MP (@AngelaRayner) June 16, 2016 Absolutely devastating news that the wonderful, beautiful & brilliant @Jo_Cox1 has died. All my thoughts are with Brendan & her children — Lucy Powell MP (@LucyMPowell) June 16, 2016 Please pray for our friend Jo Cox and her lovely staff and wonderful family x — Wes Streeting MP (@wesstreeting) June 16, 2016

Kingdom united in grief after death of anti-Brexit MP Jo Cox

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Zee News Rajasthan

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Amanda Clark

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