Ranjan Mathai in Male; Nasheed says he is satisfied with India

Male, Feb 16 (PTI) Ousted Maldivian President Mohammed Nasheed last night said he is "much more satisfied" now with India's approach to the political crisis in this country, as New Delhi stepped up efforts to help ease the situation by sending its Foreign Secretary here. "It was very promising," Nasheed said emerging from the Indian High Commission here about his meeting with Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai for nearly an hour. Shortly after his arrival, Mathai had also met President Mohammed Waheed Hassan in the evening at his residence. This meeting too lasted for nearly an hour. Nasheed, who had earlier expressed his disappointment with India over the stand taken by it on the political crisis, said he is "much more satisfied". "I now fully understand how things may be brought into a proper alignment and I am much more satisfied," he told PTI when asked if he had expressed his unhappiness to Mathai. Replying to a query if he was satisfied with India, Nasheed said, "I am more than satisfied with India and I believe that Indians have the best interest of Maldivian people." Mathai, who flew in by a special aircraft, is set to meet more stakeholders today. Last week, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had sent his special envoy M Ganapathi here. Ganapathi, Secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs, had held talks with both Hassan and Nasheed and sought a peaceful solution to the complex situation here. PTI