Indian troops in Maldives to be replaced with technical personnel, govt confirms

The external affairs ministry has confirmed that India’s military personnel in the Maldives are set to be replaced by technical personnel. “The present personnel will be replaced by competent Indian technical personnel,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in response to a question at a press briefing in New Delhi on Thursday.

The matter was discussed at the second meeting of the India-Maldives High Level Core Group last week, after which the external affairs ministry said both countries had agreed to a set of “mutually workable solutions” to allow “the continued operation of Indian aviation platforms that provide humanitarian and medvac services to the people of Maldives”.

India has provided the Maldives with various types of defence equipment, including helicopters and Dornier aircraft, but the presence of about 80 Indian defence personnel – stationed there to operate this equipment – has become a matter of controversy ever since newly elected Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and pledged to remove foreign military troops from the country.

After the meeting last week, the Maldivian foreign minister said, “Both sides agreed that the government of India will replace the military personnel in one of the three aviation platforms by 10 March 2024, and will complete replacing military personnel in the other two platforms by 10 May 2024.”

Earlier, reports in the Indian media indicated that Muizzu had called on Indian troops to leave the country by 15 March. Muizzu has also said he would prefer to diversify the country’s diplomatic relationships beyond India, breaking with its traditional India-first foreign policy. His overtures to China, in particular, have caused concern in India’s strategic community.