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New Delhi, February 8
India will replace its military personnel operating three aviation platforms in the Maldives with "competent" Indian technical personnel even as New Delhi asserted that it remained an important development partner of the island nation.
"I would like to say that the present personnel will be replaced by competent Indian technical personnel," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at his weekly media briefing.
Following the second meeting of the high-level core group to address the issue of the military personnel, the Maldivian foreign ministry said India would replace its military personnel in two phases by May 10.
Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu on Monday said the first group of Indian military personnel would be sent back before March 10 and the remaining would be withdrawn before May 10.
The second meeting of the core group took place in Delhi on February 2.
The two sides decided to set up the core group following a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Muizzu on the sidelines of the COP28 summit in Dubai in December.
At present, around 80 Indian military personnel are in the Maldives primarily to operate two helicopters and an aircraft which carried out hundreds of medical evacuations and humanitarian missions.
The ties between the two countries came under some strain since Muizzu came to power in November.
Muizzu, widely seen as a pro-China leader, maintained after assuming charge as the president that he would keep his election promise of evicting Indian military personnel from his country.
In his remarks, Jaiswal said India remained a committed development partner of the Maldives. "We remain an important committed development partner for the Maldives," he said.
On budgetary allocation under India's development assistance to the Maldives, Jaiswal said a certain amount was allocated and it could be revised.
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