Beijing/Washington, Feb 9

China today said it is in touch with India to discuss a way to resolve the political turmoil gripping the Maldives and underlined that Beijing doesn’t want the issue to become another “flashpoint” in ties with New Delhi. This comes on a day the White House said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump in a telephonic conversation expressed concern over the political crisis.“Both (Trump and Modi) expressed concern about the political crisis in the Maldives and the importance of respect for democratic institutions and rule of law,” the White House said in a readout of the phone call, the first between the two this year.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)While China officially continues to maintain that there should not be any external interference, especially in the light of reports of India’s Special Forces ready for deployment, Beijing is in touch with Delhi to resolve the crisis, Chinese official sources said. The standoff between India and China in Doklam and Beijing’s opposition to declaring Pakistan-based Masood Azhar as a global terrorist at the UN had been major irritants in bilateral ties in the past. Maldives President Abdulla Yameen sent his Economic Development Minister Mohamed Saeed to China but India said it did not find the dates “suitable” for the visit of Maldives’ foreign minister as a special envoy to New Delhi. — AgenciesMEA: Hope nations can play constructive roleNew Delhi: India on Friday hoped that countries, including China, could play a constructive role in Maldives. An MEA statement said, “We note that China has said that Maldives Government has the ability to protect the security of Chinese personnel and institutions. We hope all countries can play a constructive role in Maldives, instead of doing the opposite.” TNS