The government of the Maldives on Sunday set a deadline of March 15 for India to remove all of its troops from the island nation.
President Mohamed Muizzu campaigned last year on a pledge to distance the Maldives from India and, last week, an international scandal erupted after three junior ministers called Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “clown,” a “terrorist,” and a “puppet of Israel.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks at a rally in Mumbai, India, on January 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
India currently has about 80 soldiers stationed in the Maldives, nominally to support and train Maldivian forces and assist with humanitarian emergencies.
The Economic Times of India noted on Monday that none of India’s personnel in the Maldives are combat troops, and almost all of them are involved in supporting two helicopters and a maritime surveillance aircraft gifted to the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) by India about five years ago. The MDNF has used these air assets to conduct over 600 “medical evacuations, search and rescue missions, and medical team transfers.”
India has given other equipment to the MNDF, most recently including a fast patrol boat and a landing craft assault ship, and handles over 70 percent of the training for Maldivian military personnel. Four more Maldivians graduated from the Indian Military Academy in December 2023.
An aide to President Muizzu said on Sunday the Maldivian delegation nevertheless proposed a March 15 deadline for removing all Indian troops during a meeting with Indian officials.
The meeting capped off a week of rapidly deteriorating relations that began when Modi encouraged Indians to stop visiting popular tourist destinations in the Maldives and instead enjoy the beaches of India’s lovely Lakshadweep archipelago.
In addition to evicting India’s troops, Muizzu said Maldivians will henceforth be able to seek medical treatment in Thailand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), obtain medicine from European and American manufacturers, and import food from Turkey – all things the Maldives previously relied on India for.
Muizzu just returned from a trip to China, whose tourists he said would make up for decreased tourism from India. His aide, Ahmed Nazim, said Maldivian “civilians” would step forward to “operate” the helicopters and planes donated by India.
“The most important point to note here is that Indian troops cannot stay in the Maldives. That’s the policy of this government. It is also the president’s pledge and what the people of Maldives want,” Nazim said.
The Indian Foreign Ministry said numerous issues of “bilateral cooperation” were under discussion with the Maldives, but did not mention the deadline for military departure – except to say that both sides “held discussions on finding mutually workable solutions to enable continued operation of Indian aviation platforms that provide humanitarian and medevac services to the people of Maldives.”
“People of that country generally have good feelings toward India and understand the importance of having good relations,” Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday, seeking to downplay tensions with the Maldives.
