‘No Indian troops come May 10, not even in civilian clothing’: Maldives President
A day after the Maldives signed an agreement with China to receive free military aid, Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu said no Indian troops, including those in civilian clothing.
Will be allowed to enter the island nation after May 10, Maldives’ news portal Edition.mv reported. Muizzu’s remarks came after an Indian civilian team reached the Maldives to take charge of one of the three aviation platforms in the island nation. The Maldives’ government had said that the first group of Indian troops would be sent back by March 10 and the withdrawal would be completed by May 10.
Addressing a community in Baa atoll Eydhafushi, Muizzu claimed that people were spreading rumours about his government’s ‘success’ in expelling Indian troops from the Maldives, according to Edition.mv.
“These people (Indian military) are not departing, and they are returning after changing their uniforms into civilian clothing. We must not indulge such thoughts that instil doubts in our hearts and spread lies,” the portal quoted Muizzu, widely regarded as a pro-China leader, as saying.
“There will be no Indian troops in the country come May 10. Not in uniform and not in civilian clothing. The Indian military will not be residing in this country in any form of clothing. I state this with confidence,” he said.
Highlighting that securing true independence is a concept he regards with utmost priority, Muizzu remarked that his government was exerting efforts with due importance “to regain the southern maritime area deprived of the country in addition to expelling Indian troops from the Maldives”.
“I am confident we can achieve this. The delay in concluding this task is due to the adverse procedures practiced during the implementation. It was done without even taking the matter to the Parliament in violation of the Constitution as well,” the portal quoted the President as saying.
Muizzu’s statement came amid a diplomatic row over Maldivian politicians’ derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Lakshadweep in January, which strained ties between the two countries.
There are 88 military personnel manning the three Indian platforms that have been providing humanitarian and medical evacuation services to the people of the Maldives for the last few years using two helicopters and a Dornier aircraft.
Following a high-level meeting in Delhi on February 2 between the two sides, the Maldivian Foreign Ministry said India would replace its military personnel operating the three aviation platforms in the Maldives by May 10 and the first phase of the process would be completed by March 10.
Muizzu, widely seen as a pro-China leader, was elected President in November last year, and had pledged to remove Indian military personnel in the island nation.
Edition.mv further reported that while the first troops to depart the country are the Indian military personnel operating the two helicopters in Addu City, the military personnel present in Haa Dhaalu atoll Hanimaadhoo and Laamu atoll Kahdhoo are also expected to leave ahead of May 10.
India had agreed to remove their troops from the Maldives under the condition that a number of their civilians equivalent to the military presence are brought to operate the aircraft.
The Maldives’ proximity to India, barely 70 nautical miles from the island of Minicoy in Lakshadweep and 300 nautical miles from the mainland’s western coast, and its location at the hub of commercial sea lanes running through the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) gives it significant strategic importance.
The Maldives has been India’s key maritime neighbour in the IOR and it occupies a special place in its initiatives such as SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) and the Neighbourhood First Policy.