|
The roughly 80 soldiers stationed in the Indian Ocean
archipelago will be replaced by civilians, officials from both
countries said.
As global powers jostle for influence in the Indo-Pacific
region, India and China have wooed the Maldives, which has
traditionally been close to neighbor India.
New Delhi's ties with Male have under strain since Mohamed
Muizzu was elected president of the Maldives last year, pledging
to end the country's "India First" policy.
He has called for the withdrawal by March 15 of the troops
stationed to provide support for military equipment given to the
Maldives by New Delhi and assist in humanitarian activities in
the region.
The first set of Indian troops will leave by March 10 and the
rest by May 10, the Maldives said, citing an agreement reached
at a high-level meeting in the Indian capital on a range of
issues concerning bilateral cooperation.
India's foreign ministry said the two countries "agreed on a set
of mutually workable solutions to enable continued operation of
Indian aviation platforms" that provide humanitarian services to
Maldives.
The ministry did not immediately respond to a request for
comment on the troop pullout, and its statement did not mention
a timeframe.
India says the soldiers, who include a dozen medical personnel,
provide help with humanitarian aid and medical evacuations for
the residents of the country's remote islands.
New Delhi has given Male two helicopters and a Dornier aircraft,
which are mostly used for marine surveillance, search and rescue
operations and medical evacuations. The Indian troops manage
those operations.
The next bilateral meeting will be in Male in the last week of
February, the Maldives foreign ministry said.
(Reporting by Krishn Kaushik in Delhi and Mohamed Junayd in
Male; Editing by William Mallard)
[© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2022 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
