Tags: Terrorism , Maldives , Mohammad Nasheed

New Delhi, Dec 25: Terrorists, who are under attacks in many countries, may recruit sea pirates to carry out strikes, Maldives President Mohammad Nasheed said today and underlined the need to step up vigilance in high seas.

The recent attack on Mumbai has shown that terrorists were using 16th century ideas of carrying out strikes through the sea, said Nasheed, who swept to Presidency in the first democratic elections in the archipelago nation two months ago.

The issue of being more observant and vigilant at sea came up during his discussions with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday, said the 41-year-old leader wrapping up his first official visit to India.

‘It is not a piracy issue any more. Pirates may be recruited into terrorist cells. That is a best type of terrorist you could get -a pirate,' he said pointing out that the attack in Mumbai has all the footprints of 16th century Indian Ocean activities.

Nasheed, a former journalist, said he was ‘shocked' at the media focus on Pakistan aiding terrorists, who according to him are now concentrating on launching attacks from the sea.

‘You have electrified the India-Pakistan border and pushed them (terrorists) in the Indian Ocean. The Tamil Tigers have been forced into the sea,' he said.

Noting that piracy was an area of concern for Maldives, Nasheed favoured more frequent joint exercises with the Indian Coast Guard.

‘We have a very professional coastguard and we have joint exercises every two years. I believe two years is a very long interval and I suppose it should be more frequent,' he said.

Nasheed, who also leads the Maldivian Democratic Party, said his government's focus would be to consolidate democracy and make it sustainable in the archipelago nation. The newly elected government has embarked on the process of separating judiciary, legislative and the executive wings, he said, adding that he was looking forward to judges and lawyers from the Commonwealth to practice law in Maldives.

Also on Nasheed's agenda is the urgency to strengthen the civil service. ‘We need to have a separation between civil servants of (his predecessor Maumoon Abdul) Gayoom,' he said.

However, he said the new government, which overthrew 30 years of ‘misrule' by Gayoom, will not be vindictive towards the former President and his supporters. ‘Vindictiveness will not help. We have to focus on the future,' Nasheed said.

Asked about Islamic radicalism in Maldives, he said the ushering in of democracy has ‘diminished' such extremist elements. ‘We have been able to draw Islamic groups in the political mainstream,' he said.

Nasheed sought to downplay concerns about Maldivian youth training in madrassas in Pakistan saying there could be 30-40 radical youth in the country and the trend could continue unless modern education is made available to them.

'If you open up JNU or other such schools, nobody in their right frame of mind would go to madrassas,' he said.

Nasheed rubbished reports of the Maldives planning to buy land in other countries to settle its citizens in case the atoll nation gets submerged due to global warming.

He said the new government would focus on mitigating the impact of climate change by building structures to protect the islands and even raising their level.

‘We din not want to end up as environmental refugees,' Nasheed said.

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