This comes just weeks after Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu set a deadline for the withdrawal of the first group of Indian military personnel from his island nation.
Amid a diplomatic row with India, Maldives has signed a defence cooperation agreement with China for free military assistance to foster “stronger” bilateral ties. Maldives’ Defence Minister Mohamed Ghassan Maumoon met with Major General Zhang Baoqun, Deputy Director of the Office for International Military Cooperation of China, to discuss enhancing defence cooperation between the two countries.
Maumoon and Major General Baoqun “signed an agreement on China’s provision of military assistance gratis to the Republic of Maldives, fostering stronger bilateral ties,” the Maldivian defence ministry wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Minister of Defence @mgmaumoon and Major General Zhang Baoqun, Deputy Director of the Office for International Military Cooperation of the People’s Republic of China, signed an agreement on China’s provision of military assistance gratis to the Republic of Maldives, fostering… pic.twitter.com/OeaAe2QZr9
— Ministry of Defence (@MoDmv) March 4, 2024
This comes just weeks after Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu set a deadline for the withdrawal of the first group of Indian military personnel from his island nation.
China has also gifted 12 eco-friendly ambulances to the Maldives, Male-based Edition.mv news portal reported on Monday. In a ceremony held at the Ministry of Health on Sunday, Chinese Ambassador to Maldives Wang Lixin presented the letter gifting the ambulances to the Maldives, it said.