The island nation establishes March 15 ultimatum for New Delhi to pull out its military amid diplomatic tension.
The Maldives has requested India to withdraw its troops stationed in the country by 15 March, Abdulla Nazim Ibrahim, a top aide to President Mohamed Muizzu, announced during a press conference on Sunday.
“Indian military personnel cannot stay in the Maldives. This is the policy of President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu and that of this administration,” Ibrahim said. The two sides have been engaged in negotiations on the matter for several months. The Indian High Commissioner to the Maldives met with Maldivian officials earlier on Sunday.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of the Maldives later stated in a press release that both sides had “agreed to fast track the withdrawal” of India’s military personnel from the island nation.
The Muizzu Government had initially stated that India had 77 military personnel in the Maldives, however Ibrahim on Sunday updated the count to 88. Most of them were deployed to operate and fly two Dornier aircraft and a helicopter gifted by India to the Maldives for emergency evacuation of people from the islands, according to Indian media reports.
Maldives formally sought the removal of Indian troops in November after Muizzu assumed office as the island nation’s new president. Pledge to remove any foreign military influence as well as balancing trade and reducing the Maldives’ Indian influence was part of his presidential campaign – in contrast with his predecessor, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, who has cultivated close ties with New Delhi.
The Indian government confirmed that the first meeting of the India-Maldives High-Level Core Group had been held in Malé on Sunday but refrained from commenting on the deadline set for the withdrawal of its military personnel from the Maldives.
The development comes days after several Maldivian government officials made comments on social media that were seen as derogatory to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, prompting a backlash on social media. The three deputy ministers were suspended and the Maldivian government distanced itself from their statements.
The development also comes days after Muizzu, who is generally considered pro-Beijing, has returned from his maiden trip to China after becoming the president of the country. Beijing agreed to provide $130 million for the development of Male, the capital city. The two countries also signed an agreement on agricultural cooperation.
During his visit, Mizzu called China “one of the Maldives’ closest allies and developmental partners” and remarked that his government would “end its dependence on one country for imported staple foods such as rice, sugar, and flour,” the Maldivian President’s office said in a statement. Under the bilateral agreement, India supplies vital food items including rice, wheat flour, sugar, pulses and other items on favourable terms.
“We may be small, but that doesn’t give you the license to bully us,” Muizzu was quoted as saying by Maldivian media. “We aren’t in anyone’s backyard. We are an independent and sovereign state.”
Reflecting on the diplomatic spat on Saturday, India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday asserted that “politics is politics” and it can’t be guaranteed that every country will support or agree with India every time.
