India has withdrawn all its soldiers from the Maldives, the government here has said, ahead of the May 10 deadline set for the complete withdrawal of Indian military personnel from his country.
President Mohamed Muizzu had set May 10 as the deadline for the withdrawal of the Indian military personnel from his country. Repatriation of some 90 Indian military personnel stationed in the Maldives was a key pledge of the pro-China leader during his presidential campaign last year.
The final batch of Indian soldiers stationed in the Maldives have been repatriated, confirmed Heena Waleed, President’s Office Chief Spokesperson told Sun.mv news portal. She added details about the number of the soldiers stationed would be disclosed later. The Indian military personnel were stationed in the Maldives to operate and maintain two helicopters and Dornier aircraft India gifted earlier.
Earlier, the Maldives government announced that 51 of these soldiers were repatriated to India on Monday. The government earlier announced the presence of 89 Indian soldiers in the Maldives, citing official documents. India and the Maldives had agreed to withdraw the remaining Indian troops before May 10. During a weekly media briefing on Thursday, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the first and the second batches of the Indian personnel returned to India and “now deputation of competent Indian technical personnel has taken place” to operate the three Indian aviation platforms.
Welcomed FM @MoosaZameer of Maldives this afternoon.
My remarks at our talks: pic.twitter.com/T8t64bQxLT
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (Modi Ka Parivar) (@DrSJaishankar) May 9, 2024