President says this will result in no more ‘foreign’ military presence in Maldives

Currently, there are 88 Indian military personnel in the Maldives (data map)

President Mohamed Muizou said on Wednesday that by strengthening the Maldives’ defense capabilities, the country would soon reach a point where there is no “foreign” military presence, weeks after he sought the withdrawal of Indian defense personnel from the archipelagic nation.

Just a day before making this statement, Muizu, who came to power with an anti-India attitude, announced that in addition to enhancing the Maldives’ ability to conduct underwater surveys, the Maldives will maintain autonomous control of all its territories, including maritime, air and land domains. .

In his first presidential address on Monday, Muizul, who is widely seen as a pro-China leader, said the first batch of Indian military personnel will be repatriated from the Maldives by March 10, and personnel from the remaining two aviation platforms will be withdrawn by May. . 10.

Currently, 88 Indian military personnel operate mainly two helicopters and one aircraft in the Maldives, conducting hundreds of medical evacuations and humanitarian missions.

Indian platforms have been providing humanitarian and medical evacuation services to the people of Maldives for the past few years.

On Wednesday, Muizu was asked about the actions being taken to expel foreign troops by a member of the public on the “Raees ge Javaabu” series of platforms, which enable the public to get direct answers from the president via social media. Maldives, according to news portal Sun.mv.

“I assure the people that the Maldives will eventually no longer have any foreign troops,” Muizou said.

Noting that all necessary efforts to expel the Indian troops in the Maldives officially started on the day he took office (November 17, 2023), Muizou said that on this track, discussions are proceeding at a fast pace and in accordance with the principles of diplomacy.

“It is hoped that military personnel on one aviation platform will be withdrawn by March 10 and on the remaining platforms by May,” Muizou was quoted as saying by the news portal.

He said current efforts involve increasing Maldivian capabilities and efforts are being made to arrange for the Maldivians to independently conduct medical evacuations of emergency patients and monitor the country’s exclusive economic zone, the report said.

Expelling Indian troops stationed in the Maldives was an election promise of Muizu as he defeated the pro-India incumbent in the September 2023 runoff.

The Maldives government reported that there are currently 88 Indian military personnel in the Maldives responsible for operating and maintaining helicopters and Dornier aircraft donated by the Indian government. The current government is also reviewing more than 100 bilateral agreements signed with India by previous governments.

The Maldives will soon have sole regulation of the exclusive economic zone, the President announced on Tuesday while engaging residents of Vimandu during an official visit to Kolhumaduru Atoll.

“Planning for the work is currently underway and the president has assured that implementation will proceed immediately without any delay,” Muizu’s office said in a statement on Tuesday.

The President also announced plans to enhance the Maldives’ capabilities to conduct underwater surveys, stressing the Maldives’ desire to conduct scanning and mapping activities within its territory, the statement said.

By the way, the Maldives allowed the Chinese scientific research vessel “Xiangyanghong 03” to dock at Male Port on January 23, saying that the docking was for supplies and that the scientific research vessel would not conduct any scientific research in the Maldives. waters.

Earlier, Sri Lanka banned Chinese research vessels from multiple visits to its Hambantota port over concerns raised by India over the nature of its research, especially mapping of the Indian Ocean seabed for military purposes, besides monitoring Indian defense installations.

Indian defense agencies said New Delhi is closely monitoring the movements of Chinese ships.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)