India, Maldives Agree On Timeline For Withdrawal Of Military Personnel After President Muizzu’s Demand

New Delhi: India and the Maldives have agreed on a timeline for the withdrawal of Indian military personnel from the island nation, following a high-level meeting between the two sides on Friday. The Maldivian Foreign Ministry said that India will replace its military personnel in one of the three aviation platforms by March 10 and in the other two by May 10. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that both sides agreed on a “set of mutually workable solutions” to enable continued operation of Indian aviation platforms that provide humanitarian and medical evacuation services to the people of Maldives.

Core Group Meeting

The meeting of the India-Maldives core group was held in Delhi and primarily focused on the contentious issue of the withdrawal of Indian military personnel from the Maldives. The core group was set up following a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu on the sidelines of the COP28 summit in Dubai in December. The core group had its first meeting on January 14, when both sides agreed to find a mutually workable solution to the issue.

The MEA said that during the meeting on Friday, both sides also discussed wide ranging issues related to bilateral cooperation and identified steps to enhance the partnership, including expediting the implementation of ongoing development cooperation projects. It was agreed to hold the next meeting of the core group in Male’ on a mutually convenient date, the MEA said.

Muizzu’s Demand

Last month, Muizzu had asked India to withdraw all its military personnel from the island nation by March 15. He had said that he will keep his election promise of evicting Indian military personnel from his country. Muizzu, 45, is widely seen as a pro-China leader who defeated India-friendly incumbent Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in the presidential runoff held in September last year. He was sworn in as the new Maldivian president on November 17 and called for the withdrawal of Indian military personnel a day after taking charge.

India-Maldives Ties

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. At present, around 80 Indian military personnel are in the Maldives primarily to operate two helicopters and an aircraft which carried out hundreds of medical evacuations and humanitarian missions. The ties between the two countries came under some strain since Muizzu came to power in November.