51 Indian soldiers repatriated so far: Maldives
India has withdrawn 51 of its soldiers from the Maldives so far, the government here has said ahead of the May 10 deadline set by President Mohamed Muizzu for the complete withdrawal of Indian military personnel from his country.
The Maldivian government earlier announced that two batches of Indian soldiers had left the country. However, the exact figure was not disclosed previously.
The Chief Spokesperson of the President’s O¦ce Heena Waleed, in response to questions regarding the issue, said on Monday, that a total of 51 Indian soldiers have been repatriated so far.
“All Indian military personnel in the country will be withdrawn from the Maldives by May 10. As of now, 51 soldiers stationed at two platforms have been repatriated,” Heena was quoted as saying by the Edition.mv news portal.
She however refused to disclose the exact figure of the Indian soldiers stationed in the Maldives, stating the details would be shared at a later date, Sun.mv. news portal reported.
According to previous announcements by the Maldives government, 88 Indian soldiers were stationed in the country to operate two helicopters, a Dornier aircraft and at the Senahiya military hospital. The two helicopters and the Dronier aircraft were gifted by India. President Muizzu, widely seen as a proChina leader, had set May 10 as the deadline for the withdrawal of the Indian military personnel from his country. Repatriation of Indian soldiers stationed in the Maldives was a key pledge of Muizzu during his presidential campaign.
India has already withdrawn some of its military personnel operating three aviation platforms in the Maldives. The military personnel were replaced by Indian civilian technical experts. India and the Maldives have also agreed to withdraw the remaining Indian troops before May 10. The two sides held the fourth meeting of the bilateral high-level core group in New Delhi on May 3.
FOREIGN MINISTER VISIT
Maldivian
Foreign
Minister
Moosa Zameer will visit India on May 9, in the first high-level trip from Male after the Maldives' pro-China president Mohamed Muizzu assumed o¦ce six months ago. Announcing Zameer's visit, the Ministry of External Aairs said it is expected to lend further momentum to the bilateral cooperation.