India will soon replace military personnel at aviation platforms in the Maldives with competent Indian technical personnel, MEA informed.
New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs has announced that India will replace its military personnel stationed at aviation platforms in the Maldives with skilled Indian technical personnel. This decision comes in response to a request from the Maldives government, led by Mohamed Muizzu, for the withdrawal of Indian troops from Male. The two countries have been engaged in discussions on the withdrawal of more than 75 Indian military personnel from the Indian Ocean archipelago, following Muizzu’s demand that they be removed by March 15.
As the discussions continue, the upcoming meeting scheduled for later this month will further facilitate the process of withdrawal and pave the way for increased collaboration in other areas of mutual interest.
“What we had to say, we made it out in the press release. This was done after the second high-level core group meeting. We also said that the third core group meeting will be subsequently held,” MEA spokesperson Randir Jaiswal said during a weekly press conference in Delhi.
“I would like to say, the present personnel will be replaced by competent Indian technical personnel,” Jaiswal said. After the second meeting, the Maldives Foreign Ministry in a statement said that India will replace its military personnel in one of the three aviation platforms in the Maldives by March 10 and will complete the replacement by May 10.
Additionally, the ministry of external affairs emphasised in its statement that India and the Maldives had mutually agreed upon practical solutions to ensure the continued operation of Indian aviation platforms providing humanitarian and medvac services to the Maldivian people. “Both sides agreed that the G overnment of India will replace the military personnel in one of the three aviation platform by March 10, 2024, and will complete replacing military personnel in the other two platforms by 10 May 2024,” the statement read.
Addressing speculations about budgetary allocation to Maldives in the Interim budget 2024-2025, Jiswal said that Rs 779 crore has been allocated for the Maldives, compared to the earlier projection of Rs 600 crore. “There are many conflicting ways, in which people are this budgetary. I saw some media reports saying that the allocation has gone up, some are saying it has gone down. Certain amount of money is allocated and then revisions are made, and thereafter there is a phase of revision, during that phase of revision, new proposals are considered,” the MEA spokesperson added.
Maldives President Muizzu, known for his close ties with China, has been working towards reducing the country’s dependence on India. After his victory in the presidential election last year, Muizzu has been focusing on crucial sectors like food security and defense, according to a report in The Hindustan Times.
India, under its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy, has been investing billions of dollars in development and infrastructure projects in the Maldives. However, with the recent developments, the dynamics of the Maldives-India relationship might undergo a change.