India, Maldives review military withdrawal at core group meet

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 17

The third meeting of the India-Maldives high-level core group was held in Male on Sunday, where the two sides reviewed the ongoing deputation of Indian technical personnel to enable continued operation of Indian aviation platforms that provide humanitarian services to people of Maldives, said a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs.

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They reviewed the ongoing process of replacing Indian military personnel from the island nation with Male saying the second group will leave by April 10.

“During the meeting, both sides reviewed the ongoing deputation of Indian technical personnel to enable continued operation of Indian aviation platforms that provide humanitarian and medevac services to the people of the Maldives,” it said.

The discussions focused on efforts to boost bilateral trade and investment and enhance people-to-people linkages between India and the Maldives. “Both sides continued their discussions on wide-ranging issues related to bilateral cooperation. This inter alia included expediting the implementation of ongoing development cooperation projects through regular convening of joint monitoring mechanisms, efforts to boost bilateral trade and investment, and enhancing people-to-people linkages through capacity-building and travel,” the MEA release said.

The first batch of Indian military personnel in the Maldives has been replaced by technical personnel, Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, had said on Friday.

It was agreed to hold the next meeting of the high-level core group in New Delhi on a mutually convenient date.

The second high-level core group meeting was held in February.

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