Indian civilian replacements, Maldivian defence personnel for three air assets there
India will withdraw its military personnel from the Maldives between March and May, but will continue to operate the two helicopters and a Dornier aircraft in the island nation with the help of Indian civilian replacements and Maldivian defence personnel.
This was the key takeaway from the second meeting of the high-level core group between Indian and Maldivian officials in New Delhi Friday.
The Maldives Foreign Ministry statement said “both sides agreed that the Government of India will replace the military personnel in one of the three aviation platforms by 10 March 2024, and will complete replacing military personnel in the other two platforms by 10 May 2024”.
The Ministry of External Affairs did not spell out any timeline in its statement, but said both sides “agreed on a set of mutually workable solutions to enable continued operation of Indian aviation platforms” that provide humanitarian and medical evacuation services to the people of Maldives.
Sources said the only “workable solution” for continued operation of Indian platforms turned out to be replacing them with Indian civilian personnel and Maldivian defence personnel who are trained in operating the three platforms.
Around 80 Indian military personnel are stationed in the Maldives to operate these platforms. On January 14, after the first meeting of the core group, the Maldives government had set a March 15 deadline for India to withdraw its military personnel from the country.