WASHINGTON: Amid the recent allegations of China engaging in massive land grabbing in the Maldives, the Pentagon on Saturday commented that it was a cause of concern for the US.

While asserting that the US was very much “committed to a free and open” India-Pacific rules-based order, the Pentagon said anything else would certainly cause the US concern.

“The US is committed to a free and open Indo-Pacific rules-based order. We have seen concerning developments in Maldives as far as the Chinese influence is concerned,” Joe Felter, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia, told news agencies.

“It’s in India’s backyard. We know it’s of concern to India. So, yes, (the situation in Maldives) is a concern. We will see how it plays out. It emphasises some of our priorities identified in our National Defence Strategy,” the top Pentagon official has said.

He was responding to a questions relating to the allegations of a Maldivian opposition leader and a former foreign minister, on the Chinese land grabbing activities in the island nation with a future of potential of developing them into a military outpost.

Felter said these developments were indeed “a cause of concern” for all states that are on the side of supporting the maintenance of a rules-based order.

“If you look at similar activities across the region, it gives us some cause for concern. From Djibouti to, Gwadar put to Hambantota port in Sri Lanka, and now potentially the Maldives and then extending further east, it’s of concern,” he said.

Many other countries present in the region have expressed similar concern, which includes India, he noted.

“We believe the interests of all states – large and small – are best served by maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific and a rules-based order. Some of China’s activities that we’ve observed give us concern because they do not seem to be consistent with those interests. I suspect India shares these concerns as well,” Felter said.

During his recent visit to the US, Ahmed Naseem, a former foreign minister of from Maldives, had put up the allegation that China was meddling in internal affairs of Maldives and had voluntarily indulged itself in a massive land grabbing endeavor which if left unchecked would pose a major strategic threat in future to both the US and India.

China seems to be attempting to build a base in the Maldives which one day may house warships and submarines, he alleged.

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