NEW DELHI: India has agreed to completely withdraw the Indian armed forces presence in the island nation of Maldives, Republic TV has learnt. The decision came after Abdullah Nazim Ibrahim, the Principal Secretary to Maldives' President Mohammed Muizzu on Public Policy, told a media conference at the Presidential Palace in Malé that Indian military personnel "will no longer be permitted to reside in the Maldives."
Maldives asked the Indian troops to leave the country by March 15 amid the diplomatic row that worsened following Muizzu government's series of anti-India stances. India has agreed to withdraw troops in three stages, ending the military presence on the island nation completely by May.
India-Maldives hold Second Meeting of High-level Core Group
India and Maldives held the Second Meeting of the High-level Core Group on February 2 here in New Delhi. During the meeting held at the Ministry of External Affairs both sides reviewed the existing bilateral cooperation for improving and enhancing the partnership in the fields of defence and security cooperation, economic, and development partnership, the ministry said in an official statement.
Both the countries agreed that the Government of India will replace the military personnel in one of the three aviation platform by March 10. India will complete replacing military personnel in the other two platforms by May 10. "It was agreed that the third meeting of the High-Level core Group will be held in Male' on a mutually agreeable date during the last week of February," the ministry said.
India and Maldives decided to set up the core group after a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maldivian President Muizzu on the sidelines of the COP28 summit in Dubai last December. Muizzu asked India to withdraw all its soldiers from the island nation by March 15. India has stationed an estimated 80 Indian military personnel in the Maldives to operate two helicopters and an aircraft that have carried out numerous humanitarian missions and the evacuations.