The administration has published former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's letter to the Prime Minister of Mauritius regarding the maritime dispute with the Maldives. Publicly releasing the letter was a pledge of President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu.
In the letter sent on August 22, 2022, President Solih said the Maldives has decided to change its position with regard to the United Nations General Assembly Resolution entitled 'Advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences of the separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965. He assured that the Maldives will vote 'yes' to the resolution.
Additionally, President Solih said the Maldives has always been in support of decolonization and ensuring the right to self-determination. He said that the earlier position was based on Mauritius' objection to the Maldives' July 2010 submission to the Commission on The Limits of The Continental Shelf (CLCS). He expressed hope that the matter would now be resolved and the Maldives' change in position will further demonstrate its continued support for decolonization and solidarity with Mauritius.
Furthermore, President Solih said that the change in position is without prejudice to the legal position taken by the Maldives at the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) and the submission made by the Maldives to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in 2010.
The Maldives and Mauritius had a disputed ocean territory spanning 95,000sqkm. In April this year, ITLOS decided to split the region and give 47,000sqkm to the Maldives and 45,000sqkm to Mauritius. The previous government concluded that the tribunal ruled in favour of the Maldives with regard to the alleged claim by Mauritius to a continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles. The previous government stated that the tribunal agreed with the Maldives' claim that Blenheim reef may not be used as a base point, thereby according 47,232sqkm, the larger portion of the overlapping area, to the Maldives.