“The opinion expressed by Dr. Swamy in his tweet is personal. It does not reflect the views of the Government of India,” said the Ministry of External Affairs in a public statement.

The Government of India on Sunday disassociated itself from the idea of invading the Maldives as suggested by Dr. Subramanian Swamy in a recent post on social media.

“The opinion expressed by Dr. Swamy in his tweet is personal. It does not reflect the views of the Government of India,” said the Ministry of External Affairs in a public statement.

The BJP leader had met former Maldivian President Mohammed Nasheed in Colombo last week where they discussed the upcoming election in the island country. It is understood that during the talks, the former President of the Maldives expressed his fears that that the poll could be rigged.

“Why is the present Government of Maldives upset by my statement that if Maldives’ Sept 23th general election is rigged then India should invade that nation? Already Indians in that nation are fearing reprisals. We have to protect our citizens,” Dr Swamy said in a message on his Twitter handle on Sunday.

He had earlier messaged in favour of intervention in the country and said, “India should invade Maldives if rigging of election takes place.”

The election in the island campaign nation has already drawn criticism in view of the reported intimidation against the political opposition.