President Mohamed Muizum announced that the second batch of Indian military personnel flying helicopters had left the Maldives on April 9 under a bilateral agreement with India.

Muizu made the announcement on Friday while campaigning for ruling party candidates ahead of parliamentary elections later this month.

Local media quoted Muizou as saying: “The first team has left. Now, on April 9, the soldiers on the second platform have also evacuated.”

The agreement between the Maldives and India is to replace Indian military personnel stationed in the Maldives to oversee the operation of military aircraft provided by the country to the Maldives, who are also trained civilians from India.

Pro-China leader Muizul added that the Indian soldiers on the last platform will also leave the Maldives by May 10, which will mark his fulfillment of his promise to withdraw Indian soldiers from the Maldives.

“Only one platform is left. Since the two countries have signed the agreement, they (remaining Indian military personnel) will also be recalled by May 10. They will leave,” news portal Edition.mv quoted Muizu as saying explain.

“Then the promise is fulfilled, isn’t it? All foreign troops here will leave by May 10. So, any promise I make, I will try to fulfill.”

He did not provide any details or clarify whether the soldiers had been replaced by Indian civilians.

Neither the Maldives Defense Ministry nor India have commented on the recent withdrawal of Indian military personnel from the Maldives.

According to the Maldivian government, 88 Indian soldiers are stationed in the Maldives, operating helicopters at Addu and Ramkadu islands and Dornier aircraft at Hanima Addu. This number also includes doctors at the Senahia Military Hospital.

The first batch of Indian soldiers left the Maldives on March 11. The Ministry of Defense said that 26 soldiers stationed at Addu were replaced by 26 Indian civilians.

India also replaced Adu’s old helicopters.

Since Muizu came to power in November last year, Maldives’ relations with India have continued to deteriorate, but relations with China have remained close. He also visited China in January and met with China’s top leaders, including President Xi Jinping.

China and the Maldives recently signed a defense cooperation agreement and several other infrastructure development projects.

The Maldives is India’s major maritime neighbor in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and holds a special position in initiatives such as ‘SAGAR’ (Security and Growth for All in the Region) and the Narendra Modi government’s Neighborhood First Policy .