Maldives: President Mohamed Muizzu Asks India To Withdraw Military Presence

Within a day of swearing in as the island country's President, the office of Mohamed Muizzu on Saturday announced that the government has officially asked India to withdraw its military presence from the country.  As per media reports, Mr Muizzu formally made the request when he met Union Minister Kiren Rijiju at the President's Office earlier in the day. 

India currently has around 70 soldiers in the Maldives, manning radars and surveillance aircraft

Without naming India, Mr Muizzu said, "The country will not have any foreign military personnel in the Maldives."

The decision of removing Indian troops came as Maldives has long been influenced by India. 

Mr Muizzu's electoral victory was seen as a setback for India as his opponent, the incumbent Ibrahim Mohamed Solih was inclined to establishing closer diplomatic relation with India since taking over in 2018.

Removal of Indian troop

According to Mr Muizzu, the presence of the Indian troops in the island country could put the Maldives at risk, especially as tensions between India and China escalate along their Himalayan border.

"Maldives is too small to get entangled with this global power struggle. We will not get entangled into this," he said earlier.

The row over removal of the Indian troops was triggered by a furore over "gifts" that Delhi gave the Maldives  which included two helicopters received in 2010 and 2013 and a small aircraft in 2020.

Initially, Delhi said that the craft were to be used for search and rescue missions and medical evacuations.But in 2021, about 75 Indian military personnel were based in the country to operate and maintain the Indian aircrafts, as per the Maldivian defence force.

India has made an investment of $2bn in development assistance to the country as India wishes to continue with its infuence o the strategically located islands to monitor a key part of the Indian Ocean.