Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of tensions between India and China over the Maldives.

HMG has an important bilateral relationship with the Maldives, which is independent of the Maldives' relationships with other countries. We are engaging positively with the new Maldivian Government on a wide range of UK interests. The UK Government understands that all nations have to balance relationships with many countries, and that different governments will take different approaches to their foreign policy. India and China have an important relationship with one another, and any wider issues are for them to resolve bilaterally through dialogue.