Maldives to Pull Out of ‘One-Sided’ China Trade Deal, Reports Say
- Parliament won’t pass FTA enabling legislation, Reuters says
- Island nation to rejoin British Commonwealth in shift to West
Photographer: Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/AFP via Getty Images
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The Maldives is reportedly planning to pull out of a free trade agreement with China as the island nation moves closer to India and the West after Ibrahim Mohamed Solih won the presidency in a September election.
The trade imbalance between China and the Maldives is “so huge that nobody would think of a free trade agreement between such parties,” Reuters cited Mohamed Nasheed, a former president and now an adviser to Solih, as saying. He separately told the BBC that the trade deal was “very one-sided” and that Chinese investments would be reviewed.