Hours after being sworn in, President Mohamed Muizzu of the Maldives has ‘requested’ India to “withdraw” its military personnel from his country. Mr. Muizzu personally conveyed the message during a meeting with the visiting Minister of Earth Sciences Kiren Rijiju who represented India at the swearing-in ceremony at capital Male on November 17.
“At the meeting, President Muizzu had formally requested Government of India to withdraw its military personnel from the Maldives. The President noted that at the Presidential Election held in September, the Maldivian people had given him a strong mandate to make the request to India and expressed the hope that India will honour the democratic will of the people of the Maldives,” a press release from the President’s Office of the Maldives announced.
Mr. Muizzu-led Progressive Party of Maldives won the September election by defeating Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
On November 17, Mr. Muizzu had set the stage for his message to India by announcing, “The country will not have any foreign military personnel in the Maldives.” Mr. Muizzu did not name India during his remarks, but it was obvious that he was referring to the presence of Indian personnel. Indian sources argued that the presence of unarmed Indian military personnel was meant for training of Maldivian personnel and for maintenance of equipment.
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Mr. Rijiju had participated in the November 17 swearing-in ceremony that saw a number of international delegates including Samantha Power, the Administrator of the USAID, Hasan Mahmud, Information Minister of Bangladesh, Patricia Scotland, Secretary General of the Commonwealth and Chinese President’s Special Envoy Shen Yiqin.
“Conveyed greetings from PM @NarendraModi and reiterated India’s commitment to further strengthen the substantive bilateral cooperation and robust people-to-people ties,” said Mr. Rijiju on X (formerly Twitter) after meeting Mr. Muizzu on November 18.
During the stay, the Indian Minister also visited the Exim Bank-funded Social Housing Units Project at Hulhumale which is one of the largest Indian developmental projects in the Maldives.
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India had gifted a Dornier aircraft, two Dhruv Advance Light Helicopters apart from several vessels to the Maldives to deal with health and weather-related emergencies in the archipelago. In May this year, India handed over a Fast Patrol Vessel Huravee and a Landing Craft to the Maldives. The platforms were handed over by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who visited Maldives from May 1 to 3.
Official sources in New Delhi, however, informed that during the meeting with Mr. Muizzu, “it was agreed that the two Governments would discuss workable solutions for continued cooperation through the use of these platforms as this serves the interests of the people of Maldives”. The Indian side maintained that the unarmed Indian personnel stationed in the Maldives have been operating the Dornier aircraft for medical evacuation and to counter drug trafficking purposes.
