India agrees to withdraw troops before May 10th

Maldivian government, on Friday night, reported that the Indian government has agreed to withdraw Indian military personnel in the Maldives before May 10^th.

Prior to this, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu had formally asked India to withdraw its military personnel by March 15. Both nations have been holding discussions regarding the matter following this.

On Friday, the second meeting High-Level Core Group between Maldives and India took place in India’s capital New Delhi.

Commenting on the meeting, Maldivian Foreign Ministry said both sides, at today’s meeting, agreed that the Indian government will replace the military personnel in one of the three aviation platforms by March 10^th and complete replacing military personnel in the other two platforms by May 10^th.

The Ministry said both sides also reviewed the existing bilateral cooperation for improving and enhancing the partnership in the fields of defense and security cooperation, economic, and development partnership.

The Maldivian government reports that there are 88 Indian military personnel in Maldives for the operation and maintenance of helicopters and dornier aircrafts donated by the Indian government.