Login
iscover
A newly elected Republic of Maldives government has requested India to withdraw its military personnel from the archipelagic nation.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
Dr Mohamed Muizzu, who campaigned for the change and was elected President of Maldives in October this year, formally requested the government of India to withdraw more than 70 military personnel from the country to honour the democratic will of the people of the Maldives.
President Muizzu met with the Minister of Earth Sciences of India, Kiren Rijiju, at the President’s Office on 18 November, with both sides expressing a renewed commitment to constructive bilateral relationship between the two countries and acknowledging the presence of a vibrant Indian community within the Maldives.
“When it comes to our security, I will draw a red line. The Maldives will respect the red lines of other countries too,” President Muizzu said after being sworn in as president.
Earlier this month, the Maldives government disclosed the presence of 77 Indian military personnel stationed within Maldivian territory. Those personnel are involved in helicopter operations, Dornier aircraft operations, maintenance, and engineering works on the aircraft.
The information was made public during a press conference by the Under Secretary for Public Policy at the President’s Office, Uz Mohamed Firzul Abdulla Khaleel. He also asserted that the administration would annul any decisions undermining the nation’s sovereignty made by previous administrations and disclosed the discovery of over 100 bilateral agreements within the past five years, which are currently under examination.
President Muizzu, the former mayor of Male and a former housing minister under pro-China former president Abdulla Yameen, has previously also called for stronger ties with the People’s Republic of China provided his party won the elections.
“We look forward to returning to government in 2023, with President Yameen at the helm, to script a further chapter of strong ties between our two countries (PRC), both domestically and internationally,” he said.
The People’s Republic of China previously signed a five-year defence cooperation roadmap with the Maldives government in 2015 and a China-Maldives Free Trade Agreement signed but not put into effect in 2017.
PLA Navy Commander (now retired) Admiral Wu Shengli also previously visited the Maldives in November 2015 to discuss possible locations for basing facilities in the country.
The Maldives is not only a popular tourist destination but also oversees an area of strategic significance in the Indian Ocean region near the world’s busiest east-west shipping lanes and links the sea lanes of East Asia to the Middle East.
It is also one of the partner nations including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri-Lanka which form the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation established in 1985.
