New Delhi, Male review withdrawal of Indian military force from Maldives

India and the Maldives on Sunday reviewed the ongoing process of replacing Indian military personnel from the island nation with Male saying the second group will leave by April 10.

The two sides held the third meeting of the bilateral high-level core group in Male, days after India withdrew the first team of military personnel that was operating an advanced light helicopter in the Indian Ocean archipelago.

The military team has been replaced by civilian technical experts. The Indian personnel are operating three aviation platforms in the Maldives and New Delhi is now deploying civilian personnel to operate them.

Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu had set March 10 as the deadline for the withdrawal of the first group of Indian military personnel from his country.

 

"During the meeting, both sides reviewed the ongoing deputation of Indian technical personnel to enable continued operation of Indian aviation platforms that provide humanitarian and medvac (medical evacuation) services to the people of Maldives," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

It said both sides continued their discussions on wide-ranging issues related to bilateral cooperation.

"This inter alia included expediting the implementation of ongoing development cooperation projects through regular convening of joint monitoring mechanisms, efforts to boost bilateral trade and investment and enhancing people-to-people linkages through capacity building and travel," the MEA said.

The Maldivian foreign ministry said both sides noted the progress that has been made in replacing Indian military personnel with civilians at the aviation platforms in the Maldives.

"To date, military personnel in one such platform have been replaced with civilians, and the remaining two will be replaced by civilians on April 10 and May 10," it said.

"The high-level core group covered a broad range of areas in economic and development cooperation between the two countries and noted the capacity building programs recently concluded," the Maldivian foreign ministry said in a statement.

"Additionally, discussions covered areas related to bilateral cooperation aimed at enhancing the partnership, including expediting the implementation of ongoing developmental cooperation projects," it said.

It was agreed that the fourth meeting of the core group would be held in New Delhi on a mutually agreeable date.

India on Friday said its first team of military personnel that was operating an advanced light helicopter in the Maldives has returned from that country. The military team has been replaced by civilian technical experts.

The second meeting of the core group took place in Delhi on February 2.

The two sides decided to set up the core group following a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maldivian President Muizzu on the sidelines of the COP28 summit in Dubai in December.

The ties between India and the Maldives came under some strain since Muizzu came to power in November.

Muizzu, widely seen as a pro-China leader, maintained after assuming charge as the president that he would keep his election promise of evicting Indian military personnel from his country.

Muizzu, 45, defeated India-friendly incumbent Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in the presidential runoff held in September last year.

The Maldives is one of India's key maritime neighbours in the Indian Ocean Region and the overall bilateral ties, including in areas of defence and security, witnessed an upward trajectory under the previous government in Male.