First batch of Indian military personnel has returned from Maldives, says foreign ministry

The first batch of Indian military personnel stationed in the Maldives has returned to the country, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday.

The Maldives government had set March 10 as the deadline for the first group of Indian soldiers to leave the island nation.

On February 26, the first Indian team of civilian technical personnel arrived in the Maldives to replace the Indian military personnel stationed there to operate aviation equipment.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Friday: “The turnaround of the first team of personnel who were operating the ALH helicopter has been completed. The first batch of people that had to be replaced has been completed.”

The Maldives government said last month that India had agreed to withdraw its military personnel from the island nation by May 10 and replace the aviation management staff with civilians.

India is the only foreign power with a military presence in the Maldives. A group of Indian defence personnel has been maintaining radar stations and surveillance aircraft in the archipelago. Indian warships also help patrol the Maldives’ exclusive economic zone. This collaboration is of strategic importance to New Delhi amid its geopolitical competition with China in the Indian Ocean region.

For Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu, who is considered to hold a favourable stance towards China, removing the Indian military from his country was a key election promise. After preliminary negotiations in October, he asked India to withdraw its troops from the country. In December, he claimed that India had agreed to withdraw its soldiers.

Muizzu made his first official state visit to China earlier in January, amid a diplomatic spat with India. India is typically the first country that new Maldivian presidents visit after assuming power. Muizzu had first requested a visit to New Delhi but was turned down, according to reports.