
Muhammed Moizo had set a deadline of March 10 for withdrawal.
Male:
A second batch of Indian military personnel manning a helicopter gifted to the Maldives by India has left the island nation at his request, President Mohammad Mueez has said.
The pro-China leader, Mr Muizhu, also confirmed that foreign ambassadors in Malay would not exercise authority over him, stressing that the ultimate power rested with the citizens.
Last month, he alleged that his predecessor, Ibrahim Muhammad Saleh, acted on the orders of a “foreign ambassador” without naming a country.
He announced the withdrawal of the second Indian military contingent from the Maldives while addressing a campaign rally for candidates of the ruling People’s National Congress Party ahead of the April 21 parliamentary elections.
“The first team has already gone, now on April 9 the troops on the second platform have also been withdrawn,” said Mr Moizo, who during his election campaign last year called for the withdrawal of foreign troops from the Maldives. It was said with reference to As reported by local media on Saturday.
Mr Museo had set a deadline of March 10 for the withdrawal of the first batch of Indian military personnel from his country.
Under an agreement signed between the Maldives and India in February, New Delhi agreed to replace Indian military personnel stationed in the Maldives to monitor the operations of military aircraft that the country also gifted to Indian-trained civilians. is given
Mr Muzzo also said that Indian troops on the last aviation platform would also leave the Maldives before the May 10 deadline set by him, in line with his pledge to remove Indian troops from the island nation. There will be a mark of completion.
“There is only one platform left. As the two countries have already signed, they (remaining Indian military personnel) will also be recalled before May 10. They will be gone,” Mr Muizhu was quoted as saying. Edition.mv news portal said. on Saturday.
He did not provide details of the number of the second batch of Indian military personnel who left the Maldives. He also did not clarify whether the soldiers have been replaced by trained Indian nationals.
Neither the Defense Ministry of Maldives nor India has commented on the latest withdrawal of Indian military personnel from the country.
According to the Maldivian government, 88 Indian soldiers were deployed in the Maldives to operate helicopters at Udu and Lamu Kadhu and a Dornier aircraft at Hanimadhu. According to local media reports, the figures include doctors from Senahiya Military Hospital.
The first batch of Indian troops left Maldives on March 11. The Ministry of Defense said that 26 soldiers stationed in Addo have been replaced by 26 Indian nationals. India also replaced the old helicopter in Addu with a new one.
Relations between the Maldives and India have soured since Mr Mushu came to power in November last year, while close ties with China remain. He also visited China in January and met with top Chinese leaders including President Xi Jinping.
China and the Maldives recently signed a defense cooperation agreement and several other infrastructure development projects.
Maldives is a key maritime neighbor of India in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and has a prominent place in initiatives such as ‘SAGAR’ (Security and Development for All in the Region) and the Indian Government’s ‘Neighbourhood First Policy’.
(Other than the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Maldives
news/2nd-batch-of-indian-military-personnel-leave-country-maldives-president-mohamed-muizzu-5439446″>Source link