New Delhi – In response to the recent statement by the Maldivian President-elect, Mohamed Muizzu, expressing his intention to request the departure of Indian military personnel from the islands, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of India has conveyed its readiness to engage with the new Maldives government on a wide range of issues.
Indian High Commissioner to Male, Munnu Mahawar, met President-elect Muizzu and presented a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, extending congratulations on his electoral victory. During their meeting, discussions encompassed various aspects of the bilateral relationship, including development cooperation, as stated by MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.
Notably, MEA officials refrained from commenting on the representation of New Delhi at President-elect Muizzu’s swearing-in ceremony. However, it’s worth recalling that in 2018, Prime Minister Modi attended President Ibu Solih’s inauguration ceremony in Male, marking an unprecedented gesture.
The recent run-off election resulted in a victory for Mr. Muizzu, the former Mayor of Male, who secured an 8% margin and 19,000 votes more than the incumbent President Solih. These results have been viewed as a surprising turn of events, considering India’s close ties with the Solih administration. President-elect Muizzu’s campaign, backed by the PNC-PPM coalition, prominently featured an “India Out” platform, emphasizing the importance of Maldives’ sovereignty.
President-elect Muizzu emphasized, “The people have decided and don’t want Indian troops to stay in the Maldives. Therefore, foreign soldiers cannot be here against our sentiments, against our will,” as reported by Maldivian news outlets.
While India has maintained a robust military presence in the Indian Ocean Region for years, naval and airforce personnel have been stationed in the Addu and Lammu islands since 2013 to manage two helicopters and Dornier aircraft lent to the Maldives for reconnaissance operations over the past decade. According to the Maldives National Defence Force, 75 Indian military personnel were stationed in the Maldives as of November 2021.
Tensions previously surfaced in February 2021 when the Maldivian opposition protested an MoU signed by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and the Maldives Defence Minister, which aimed to construct a Coast Guard harbour base at the Uthuru Thilafalhu atoll. The construction commenced during a visit by India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in May that year, becoming a focal point for the “India Out” protests by the PPM.
MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi emphasized the need for close collaboration between India and the Maldives. He stated, “The focus of our partnership with Maldives has always been on capacity building and working together to address our shared challenges and priorities. As neighbors, we need to collaborate closely to address the challenges confronting our region such as transnational crimes and Humanitarian Assistance Disaster Relief.” The Indian government looks forward to engaging with the new Maldives administration on all such issues.
