U.S. To Sign Maldives SOFA "Soon"

Robert Blake said he haven’t seen the draft agreement.

The U.S. has confirmed it is negotiating a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the Republic of Maldives and it is likely to be signed soon, according to a report on the Maldives' government news site.

Ship & Bunker reported last week that an alleged leak of the draft SOFA published on a Maldivian news website showed the agreement would, amongst other provisions, allow U.S. forces access to ship bunkering facilities, as well as sea ports and other facilities in the Indian Ocean island nation.

However the U.S. stopped short of confirming the authenticity of the alleged SOFA agreement draft, and played down its significance.

"I haven't seen the draft agreement. So I can't comment. But we are in the process of negotiating one now. These are standard text round the world, nothing very secret about them," said Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake.

"I do not foresee that this (SOFA) is going to be difficult negotiations (with Maldives). These are the things we do with partners around the world," he added.

Both Indian and Sri Lankan media have reported the countries have raised concerns over the news, but Blake said he was unaware of any issues.

"I want to reassure everybody that this SOFA does not imply some new uptick in military co-operation or certainly does not apply any new military presence. It would just be to support our ongoing activities," he said.

"We always try to be transparent with India about everything that we are doing in South Asia. But certainly on Maldives we always wanted to be transparent on our military activities."

"No they (India) have not (expressed their concerns). But it is not for me to characterise their views about it," Blake said.

"There are no plans to establish U.S. naval bases in Maldives. So they (Sri Lanka) should not be worried about that."