The Maldives’ ministry of defence on Monday said that the first batch of Indian civilians have landed and would replace Indian uniformed military pilots and technical crew.
“The civilian crew who will operate the helicopter in place of the Indian troops currently stationed in Seenu Gan [Addu City] has arrived in Maldives this evening,” the ministry said in a statement.
The formal process of handover to civilians has now begun for the Indian military stationed at Gan International Airport.
In February, after meeting their Indian counterparts, the Maldivian foreign ministry had said that it would replace its military personnel operating in three aviation platforms by May 10.
India’s ministry of external affairs had then said that both the sides “had agreed on a set of mutually workable solutions to enable continued operation of Indian aviation platforms” that provide humanitarian and medical evacuation services to the people of the Maldives.
President Mohamed Muizzu had won the presidential election in November last year on the plank of ‘India Out’. A day after taking oath, he requested India to withdraw its military personnel from the island. He had since then stated that an agreement had been reached with New Delhi to withdraw the personnel.
At least 75 Indian military personnel are believed to be in Maldives. They are involved in transporting patients from remote islands and rescuing people at sea. Earlier, the Indian government had given Maldives a Dornier airplane and two helicopters.
Tensions between India and Maldives have grown since Muizzu came to power last year and adopted a pro-China stance.
Campaigning has begun for the Maldives parliamentary election to be held on March 17th. Muizzu will be hoping his party (PNC-People’s National Congress), improves its position so he is able to pursue his legislative agenda. Currently, the 93-member parliament is dominated by the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) of former president Ibrahim Solih. The PNC recently lost the election for mayor of Male, the capital.
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