With protests that started off on religious grounds reaching a crescendo on Tuesday morning Nasheed’s national security adviser Amin Faisal dialled New Delhi frantically.

“Faisal and some other senior officials were making calls from the president’s office at about 11 am on Tuesday, asking about the possibility of Indian military assistance to put down the coup,” Paul Robets, adviser to the former president, said.

Roberts was in Nasheed’s office as the situation unfolded on Tuesday.

The Indian side, however, saw no case for intervention like in 1988 when troops were sent out to put down an insurgency by Tamil rebels from Sri Lanka, official sources said. New Delhi’s view was that such action would be perceived as a transgression into the sovereignty of the Maldives.

However, officials from the Indian high commission were in touch with both sides in the conflict, and were instrumental in ensuring a peaceful resolution, the sources said. “The situation was resolved at the political level and within the framework of the Maldivian constitution. There was no case for intervention,” a top source said.