New Delhi: The Governments of Maldives and India Friday agreed to a phased replacement of the 77 Indian military personnel posted in the island country, according to the Maldivian Foreign Ministry.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), however, had no mention of the phased replacement announced by its Maldivian counterpart.
The two sides agreed to this phased replacement during the second meeting of the high-level core group that took place in New Delhi. “Both sides agreed that the Government of India will replace the military personnel in one of the three aviation platform by 10 March 2024, and will complete replacing military personnel in the other two platforms by 10 May 2024,” the Maldivian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
On the other hand, India’s statement had no such mention about withdrawal of the troops announced by the Maldives.
“Both sides also agreed on a set of mutually workable solutions to enable continued operation of Indian aviation platforms that provide humanitarian and medvac services to the people of Maldives,” the MEA said in its statement.
The 77 unarmed Indian military personnel are deployed in the Maldives as part of an MoU between the two countries. Since coming to power in October last year, President Mohamed Muizzu has been calling for the withdrawal of Indian personnel. The Indian troops consist of military engineers, trainers, and pilots responsible for operating two helicopters and a Dornier aircraft.
The two sides have agreed to hold a third high-level core group meeting in Malé on a mutually agreeable date during the last week of February, the Maldivian foreign ministry said in its statement.
An earlier meeting was held on the 14th of January, 2024 when Maldives had set a deadline of 15 March for the withdrawal of Indian troops.
(Edited by Tony Rai)