India to replace military personnel by May 10

New Delhi, Feb 2 (PTI) India on Friday said a "set of mutually workable solutions" was agreed upon with the Maldives for continuing the operations of Indian aviation platforms in the island nation, a move that came against the backdrop of Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu's call for a withdrawal of Indian military personnel from his country by March 15.

After a high-level meeting in Delhi between the two sides on the contentious issue, the Maldivian foreign ministry said India will replace its military personnel operating the three aviation platforms in the Maldives by May 10 and the first phase of the process would be completed by March 10.

"Both sides agreed that the government of India will replace the military personnel in one of the three aviation platforms by March 10, and will complete replacing military personnel in the other two platforms by May 10," it said in a statement.

Muizzu, widely seen as a pro-China leader, asked India last month to withdraw all its military personnel from the island nation by March 15.

Both sides "agreed on a set of mutually workable solutions to enable continued operation of Indian aviation platforms" that provide humanitarian and medical evacuation services to the people of the Maldives, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement following the core-group meeting.

It said the two sides continued their discussions on wide-ranging issues related to the bilateral cooperation towards identifying steps to enhance the partnership, including expediting the implementation of the ongoing development cooperation projects.

It was agreed that the next meeting of the high-level core group would be held in Male on a mutually convenient date, the MEA said.

At present, around 80 Indian military personnel are in the Maldives primarily to operate two helicopters and an aircraft that have carried out hundreds of medical evacuations and humanitarian missions.

The Indian platforms have been providing humanitarian and medical evacuation services to the people of the Maldives for the last few years.

The two sides decided to set up the core group following a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Muizzu on the sidelines of the COP28 summit in Dubai in December last year.

It is learnt that the Indian military personnel could be replaced by civilians who have expertise in operating the three platforms.

The ties between the two countries came under some strain since Muizzu came to power in November last year.

Muizzu maintained after assuming charge as the president that he will keep his election promise of evicting Indian military personnel from his country.

The 45-year-old leader defeated India-friendly incumbent Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in the presidential runoff in September last year.

The Maldives is one of India's key maritime neighbours in the Indian Ocean region and the overall bilateral ties, including in the areas of defence and security, witnessed an upward trajectory under the previous government in Male.

Muizzu was sworn in as the new Maldivian president on November 17 last year.

A day after taking charge of the top office, he called for a withdrawal of Indian military personnel from the Maldives.

After the first meeting of the core group on January 14, the MEA said the two sides were looking at finding a mutually workable solution to enable a continued operation of Indian aviation platforms that provide humanitarian and medical evacuation services to the people of the Maldives. PTI