India firmly rejected claims made in a Washington Post report alleging that the opposition in the Maldives sought $6 million from New Delhi to support a plot to impeach President Mohamed Muizzu. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) dismissed the allegations as “baseless” and accused both the newspaper and the reporter of harboring “compulsive hostility towards India.” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, in a weekly briefing, questioned the credibility of the report, emphasizing that the claims lacked foundation.

The controversy arose from a report suggesting that Maldivian opposition figures proposed bribing 40 members of parliament to facilitate an impeachment scheme against President Muizzu. The report also claimed that a senior official from India’s intelligence agency, R&AW, had explored a plan to remove Muizzu from office. These claims were based on an internal document titled the “Democratic Renewal Initiative.”

Former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed, leading the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party, also rejected the report, stating he was unaware of any serious plot against Muizzu. Nasheed reaffirmed that India has always supported Maldivian democracy and would never engage in such activities.

In a separate issue, the MEA addressed another Washington Post report accusing India of covert killings in Pakistan targeting terrorists from Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad. Jaiswal cited a remark by former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, warning Pakistan about harboring extremist groups and their potential threat beyond its borders.