New Delhi, May 14
Maldives President Mohamed Waheed today assured India that he would do nothing to hurt the special relationship between the two countries even as he virtually ruled out early elections in the Indian Ocean archipelago.

There was no proposal to have a defence cooperation pact between China and the Maldives, he told reporters at a press conference here, emphasising that Male would not risk its friendship with New Delhi while conducting ties with other countries.

Waheed, on his first visit abroad after assuming power in February when Mohamed Nasheed resigned as President in the wake of political unrest, said he had held fruitful discussions with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other Indian leaders.

However, in what may disappoint the Indian leadership which had been nudging him to hold early polls in his country, the Maldives President said all the political parties had reservations about holding the polls before July next year.

“I am all for free and fair elections… there will be elections as early as the Constitution allows. However, all the political parties, which are part of my coalition government except that of Nasheed, are not in favour of the polls before July 2013 because they are themselves not ready for the exercise,’’ he added.

He also emphasised that India was not pushing his government to do anything that did not suit his country. “I have assured the Indian leadership that we will respect all agreements and understanding between our two countries.’’

Waheed claimed that life was returning to normal in his tiny country following the unsavoury political developments of February. Tourism was also gradually picking up.

He said he had sought financial assistance from India for various development projects in his country. Waheed also sought private sector investments from India in the Maldives, particularly in the IT sector. There was a huge market in the IT sector in the Maldives which had not been adequately tapped.

On his predecessor Nasheed’s charge that he was acting as an agent of former President M A Gayoom, Waheed pointed out that Gayoom’s party was one of the constituents of his government. “I seek advice from all political parties but it is not fair to assume that there is too much influence on the administration from the former President,’’ he added.