In a letter to the Prime Minister of Canada the Right Honourable Stephen Harper, President Dr Mohamed Waheed has drawn attention to the 'inappropriate and derogatory remarks made by Canadian Foreign Minister to the Maldives Acting Foreign Minister, which the President described has “put unnecessary pressure on an otherwise excellent relationship” between the Maldives and Canada.
The President’s letter noted that during the Commonwealth Foreign Minister’s Meeting and the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group meetings held in New York last September, Mr Baird posed several harshly worded questions as well as derogatory and inappropriate remarks to the Acting Foreign Minister concerning domestic politics in the Maldives.
The President also stated in his letter that the Maldives and Canada have similar interests and concern on a wide range of issues in international politics and that the Maldives would “always be ready to work with Canada on those issues and expand relationship” between the two countries.