Maldives reviewing over 100 agreements with India after requesting Indian troops to leave island nation
The development comes a day after newly elected president Mohamed Muizzu formally requested India to withdraw all of its soldiers from the island nation.
India’s Neighbourhood First policy.
NEW DELHI: The Maldives is reviewing over 100 agreements, including in areas of defence and security, that were signed between the previous Ibrahim Mohamed Solih-led government and New Delhi, a senior Maldivian official said on Sunday.
The development comes a day after newly elected president Mohamed Muizzu formally requested India to withdraw all of its soldiers from the island nation.
Addressing a press conference, the undersecretary for Public Policy of the Presidential Office, Mohamed Firuzul Abdul Khaleel, said the new administration has established that there are 77 Indian military personnel in the Maldives.
There were 24 Indian military personnel to manage the first helicopter, 25 Indians to manage the Dornier aircraft, 26 personnel to manage the second helicopter, and two more for maintenance and engineering, Firuzul was quoted as saying by the Maldivian media.
Strategic neighbour
The Maldives is one of India’s key maritime neighbours in the strategic Indian Ocean Region and the overall bilateral ties including in areas of defence and security are now under question.
The Maldives is also one of the biggest beneficiaries of India’s Neighbourhood First policy.
Pro-China leader Muizzu had built his presidential campaign against Solih on the promise of expelling Indian military personnel from the Maldives. He also said he would review the agreements between Maldives and India, and disclose its contents where possible.
Firuzul said the Solih administration had signed over 100 agreements with India, and that the new administration is reviewing them.
The agreements in question include the Uthuru Thila Falhu (UTF) agreement and other defence agreements, local media reports said.
