Speaking in a program on State Television station TVM on Tuesday night, AG detailed that the government or even the Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) could have terminated the GMR agreement without going for arbitration and that the government has decided to do so in light of certain legal points. “We do not have to go for arbitration. However we considered our legal options and decided to go for arbitration,” Azima said speaking at the program in which the Tourism Minister Ahmed Adheeb and Economic Minister Ahmed Mohamed also participated. Azima revealed that GMR had been given a notice of seven days, but the company will receive a 30 day period to remove its assets. Legal assessment showed that the agreement was invalid from day one, she added. In response to a question if the diplomatic relations between the two nations may be affected by the decision, Azima said that the only business deal between India and the Maldives is not the agreement with GMR and that there are a lot of Indian investments in the Maldives. “I do not believe that there is any room for the friendship between the two countries to weaken,” Azima said. In response to the statements issued by some members of the Indian government, Azima said that the decision of the government to terminate the GMR agreement would be clear to all once the government reveals information about the assessment and the points considered to terminate the agreement. “Hence I believe that the work done so far and the research put in have not been revealed yet. Once these are revealed and communicated with the Indian authorities, (we) are sure that the Indian government will be convinced that the government’s decision is purely based on its commercial interests rather than having any political or diplomatic dimension to it,” Azima said. She said that the inconsistencies within the agreement are being looked in to by the relevant authorities and that action would be taken against those responsible for it. In this regard she added that the International Finance Corporation (IFC) which acted as a consultant in the process of awarding the airport will also be held accountable if they had been found culpable. Economic Minister Ahmed Mohamed said that the process of awarding the agreement had been premeditated. He said that there were better proposals submitted to the project, however the project was awarded to GMR considering the short term benefit and in such a way which could cause loss to the state. In response to claims that the amount of tourists visiting the Maldives would decrease due to the decision to annul the GMR agreement, Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb said that the decision would enhance the investors trust that the government would not maintain an illegal agreement. The GMR agreement was signed on June 28, 2010 after axing the Board Chairman Ibrahim Nooradeen, even as many political parties, legal experts had opposed it and heated debates were held in the Parliament on the matter.