New Delhi: After setting a deadline of two months, Maldives said on Sunday that India has agreed to “fast track” the withdrawal of its military personnel stationed to operate aircraft primarily engaged in humanitarian missions within the Indian Ocean archipelago nation.The deadline was announced by the Maldivian government as senior officials of both countries met in Malé on Sunday to discuss the demand.A day after being sworn in, the new President of Maldives Mohamed Muizzu had formally requested India to remove its troops from the country. It was not a surprise as Muizzu’s election platform had revolved around the ‘India Out’ campaign that targeted them President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih for his closeness with the Indian government.Following Muizzu’s meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Dubai on sidelines of the COP summit in November, the two countries had announced that a high-level group would discuss the contentious subject.On Sunday morning, the first meeting began in Male, with the Indian side represented by India’s high commissioner Munu Mahawar, MEA joint secretary Puneet Aggarwal and senior defence ministry officials.The Maldivian officials at the table included Chief of Staff of the President’s Office Abdulla Fayaz, Ambassador at Large for foreign ministry, Ali Naseer, Maldives Ambassador to India, Ibrahim Shaheeb and Chief of Defence Force Abdul Raheem Abdul Latheef, as per local media reports.Later in the day, the public policy secretary at the President’s Office, Abdulla Nazim Ibrahim announced that President Muizzu has officially requested the withdrawal of Indian military personnel by March 15. This was made clear at the meeting underway at the Maldivian capital.According to Maldivian state media, Ibrahim said that the Cabinet had received the latest information on the Indian military personnel stationed in the Maldives. Around 88 Indian military personnel are reportedly based in Maldives.The Maldivian official also claimed that the two countries have held “12 meetings on the issue so far”. The Maldivian foreign ministry’s communique also added that the two sides had “agreed to fast-track the withdrawal of Indian military personnel. “The Indian readout of the meeting, issued on Sunday evening, did not mention the deadline provided by Maldives. Neither did it mention that it had “agreed” to withdraw the military personnel, rather India claimed that the discussions were to continue operation of the Indian aircrafts in Maldives, which is operated by Indian personnel.The MEA press note stated that both sides “held discussions on finding mutually workable solution to enable continued operation of Indian aviation platforms that provide humanitarian and medvac services to the people of Maldives”.They also stated that both sides also held discussions on expediting the implementation of the ongoing development cooperation projects.Both sides also held discussions on finding mutually workable solution to enable continued operation of Indian aviation platforms that provide humanitarian and medvac services to the people of Maldives.It was agreed to hold the next meeting of the High Level Core Group in India on a mutually convenient date.Meanwhile, Union external affairs minister broke silence over the India-Maldives row that was triggered after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Lakshadweep. “Politics is politics. I cannot guarantee that in every country, every day, everybody will support us or agree with us,” he said.“But, seriously, as a solution, what we have been trying to do in the last 10 years, with a lot of success, is to build a very strong connect, so that, though the politics may go up and down, the people of the country, the society, generally have good feelings towards India and understand the importance of having good relations with India,” Jaishankar added.After returning from a state visit to China on Saturday, the Maldivian President had indirectly criticised India by stating that the archipelago was “not in the backyard of any particular country” and emphasised ongoing efforts to reduce dependence on procuring essential commodities from a single nation.Till now, all previous democratically elected heads of state of Maldives had chosen India as the first foreign port of call. But, Muizzu chose to break the pattern and went to Turkey. He also went to China for his first state visit abroad.Note: This article has been updated with details from Maldives’ communique.
