Morocco Ambassador Maliki hopes India will join Sahara autonomy plan

The Morocco Ambassador Mohamed Maliki has hoped that India will join his country's autonomy plan on the Western Sahara issue and has welcomed the UK recognising the over 15 years old initiative. Speaking to WION's Sidhant Sibal, Ambassador Maliki said, "The UK, as you know, is a member of the security council. Now out of five, three countries are recognising Morocco's autonomy plan" for the region.

Western Sahara is a territory in northwest Africa, a majority of which is under Morocco control but the Polisario Front, which controls around 20% of territory, has called for an independent state. Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara, formally proposed in 2007, offers the territory self-governance under Moroccan sovereignty as a solution to the decades-long conflict.

Lauding India ties, Ambassador has said that his country stood by India after the Pahalgam terror attack and backed India's bid to be a member of the United Nations Security Council Reforms. He said, "Morocco is one of the first countries (after Pahalgam terror attack) to write officially to express its refusal of the terrorism in all its forms.." Full interview:

Sidhant Sibal: UK has agreed to Morocco's autonomy plan when it comes to the Sahara issue?

Ambassador Mohamed Maliki: When it comes to the Moroccan Sahara issue, it has seen developments in the last few years. One of them is the UK recognising that Morocco's autonomy plan is the most credible solution and the resolution of this issue. And then the UK is a member of the Security Council and out of the 5, 3 UNSC members are recognizing the autonomy plan as the best solution for finding an end for the issue. It was followed by Ghana, and then yesterday, incidentally, the previous president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, also in his party, said that the Moroccan plan represents the only solution for solving this problem, and then requested the South African authorities to review these things. So we have seen developments, and I hope also that India will join this trend of the countries backing the Moroccan autonomy plan to solve this artificial dispute which has lived for so long.

Sidhant Sibal: So you see it as a diplomatic win for Morocco

Ambassador Mohamed Maliki: In fact, you see Morocco has never jeopardized and has not bargained on its own territory, but it has always gone for ways facilitating the solution of this problem. You see that place is a very critical place, the Sahara and the Sahel, and then it can be a source of crisis, not only for Africa, but also for Europe. So stability there and then, I think Morocco has proved to be a very credible, stable country with strong institutions. And then it's in the interests of all the international community to solve this problem the way Morocco looks at it, especially that economically.

Sidhant Sibal: I was coming to the India relationship. How do you see the India relationship, India Morocco relationship? What are the key pillars of this relationship? If you can perhaps give an overview of the status of the relationship,

Ambassador Mohamed Maliki: I believe that Indian Morocco relations can stand on a few pillars. Morocco becoming an industrial hub India is developing very seriously, and then also becoming a major exporter of industry components. So there are a lot of things which we can benefit industrially.When the visit of His Majesty took place on the margin of the India Africa summit (2015), our level of trade was between $1.1- $1.2 billion and then we reached in 2023, we reached at $ 4.2 bn. We moved from 13 Indian companies to more than 45 now in Morocco. So Morocco is somehow attracting more and more industries. Then comes the people to people relationship, and throughout history, trade has been flourishing between the two countries. Morocco opened the E visa for Indians, we have seen growth of 43% last year, and then we expect more than 50% this year. In fact, there are many cinema theaters in Morocco which screen only Indian movies. Some people speak Hindi through the movies. Also, cooperation in sensitive issues, like defense, security, and counter terrorism, is an important issue for both our countries.

Sidhant Sibal: India suffered the Pahalgam terror attack, something that really shocked India and the international community. What is your country's stance in the aftermath of the attack?

Ambassador Mohamed Maliki: The terror attack was unprecedented. I also would like to say that Morocco is one of the first countries to write officially to express its refusal of the terrorism in all its forms. International community shouldn't take terrorism very lightly, because it hinders economic development. It also hinders the development of all countries, but also it creates situations in which countries are destabilized. West Asia is burning in so many ways. So I think we need to stand by each other when it comes to fighting terrorism. This is also a very good opportunity for me to tell you about the counter terror approach that Morocco. Recruiters of terrorists find ground. So we need to develop economically our regions and then the places where there is a huge poverty. The second is through intelligence. I think it's important to have this intelligence and then to prevent things before they happen. Third element is also through education. I am so happy to announce that with the institution of Imams, India is also benefiting from a program where we take a few of the Imams and to give them the tolerance and then open Islam, the real Islam, which is not distorted, like many others wanted to show it in this case. So we stood by India in this terror attack.

Sidhant Sibal: UNSC reforms, what is your country's stance on that?

Ambassador Mohamed Maliki: I think the world we are living now is completely different from the world in which the institution of the UN was created. That is after the aftermath of the Second World War. There are new realities, new emerging powers, new geopolitical realities. There is an importance of reforming the Security Council. And then there are emerging voices, like India as the voice of the South, but also Africa has 54 countries. They need to be represented in this Security Council. So Morocco is backing India, for getting its permanent seat in the Security Council in the new reform.

Sidhant Sibal: On the defense and security aspect, how is Morocco an important partner when it comes to India's focus on building more defense capabilities and capacities, especially in Africa.

Ambassador Mohamed Maliki: India came as a privileged partner when Morocco decided to diversify its partners. When it comes to defense, I think that there are active companies from India from which Morocco gets equipment. The first ever Indian defense industry is happening in Morocco, via Tata Advanced Systems Limited. They are building a factory for the armored vehicles in Morocco. It will open huge opportunities for India to export its defense industry, not only to Morocco, but also to target the African and then European countries. Morocco has free trade agreements with all thesecountries.