New Delhi: Maldives has once again called on India to withdraw its troops from the island nation by the deadline set by it earlier, during a meeting between External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his Maldivian counterpart Moosa Zameer Thursday. Maldives Sunday had set a 15 March deadline for the withdrawal of Indian troops from the island.
“We exchanged views on the ongoing high-level discussions on the withdrawal of Indian military personnel, as well as expediting the completion of ongoing development projects in the #Maldives, and cooperation within SAARC [South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation] and NAM [Non-Aligned Movement],” said Zameer in a post on social media platform ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) Thursday.
It was a pleasure to meet with the External Affairs Minister of #India @DrSJaishankar in the margins of #NAMSummitUg2024.
We exchanged views on the ongoing high-level discussions on the withdrawal of Indian military personnel, as well as expediting the completion of ongoing… pic.twitter.com/viw3fnppY7
— Moosa Zameer (@MoosaZameer) January 18, 2024
Jaishankar is leading the Indian delegation to the 19th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit being held in Uganda on 19 and 20 January. He also met the foreign ministers of Angola, Belarus and Egypt on the sidelines of the summit Thursday evening, with discussions ranging from India-Africa cooperation to the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine.
On the meeting with Zameer, Jaishankar said on X, “Met Maldives FM @MoosaZameer today in Kampala. A frank conversation on India-Maldives ties. Also discussed NAM related issues.”
India has maintained a presence of 75 unarmed military personnel, as well as two helicopters and at least one Dornier aircraft in Maldives. The President Mohamed Muizzu government in Malé has, however, consistently asked India to withdraw its troops from Maldives since assuming office in late 2023.
On 14 January, the Maldives administration set a deadline of 15 March for the withdrawal of Indian troops from the country, while the MEA hours later in its statement said that the two sides held high-level talks aimed at finding a “mutually workable solution” to enable the continued operation of Indian military personnel in the island nation.
Ties between the two countries have also been strained after three Maldivian deputy ministers made disparaging remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The three have since been suspended.
Muizzu, perceived to be pro-China, is the first Maldivian President who has visited Türkiye, UAE and China before visiting India — the usual first port of call for a new Maldivian President.
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India out and disinformation
Muizzu, the former mayor of Malé and a former housing and infrastructure minister under the Abdulla Yameen administration (2013-2018) beat pro-India incumbent President Ibrahim Solih in the elections held in September 2023.
One of Muizzu’s promises was the withdrawal of all foreign military presence from the island nation, the focus being on Indian personnel who have been present in the Maldives for at least a decade based on agreements signed between the two countries.
On his return from his state visit to China on 13 January, Muizzu, without naming India, made it clear in his speech that Maldives will not be “bullied”.
Since assuming office, his administration has at various fora, during meetings with Indian counterparts, raised the issue of Indian troop presence and called for its withdrawal.
However, a former Maldivian spokesperson Safaath Ahmed in an interaction with ThePrint last Wednesday highlighted that the military personnel were engaged in humanitarian and capacity-building exercises, as well as rescue and medical operations.
The personnel and their role in the Maldives have been subject to disinformation by political opponents of the previous Solih administration, Ahmed added.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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