Withdraw Indian Military Staff By March 15: Maldives
Maldives President Mohammed Muizzu has given deadline to India to withdraw its military staff from the island nation. It has urged India to withdraw all military personnel from their country by March 15. The decision was taken after the first meeting of the India-Maldives high-level core group meeting in Male formed to handle the issue.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in a press statement that discussions took place on many concerns including their shared interests and both sides expressed their desire to improve cooperation in such regard and to withdraw the Indian military staff quickly. Abdulla Nazim Ibrahim, principal secretary to the Maldivian president said in press briefing in Male that Mohammed Muizzu notified the Maldivian representatives participating in the meeting to inform Indian officials that the troops must be withdrawn by mid-March.
This constitutes the 12th meeting to converse about the withdrawal of Indian troops. Principal secretary added that talks indicate that the government’s desire to “move ahead with the withdrawal of Indian troops in a civilised and diplomatic manner without endangering the relationship between the two countries”, Hindustan Times quotes.
“Indian military personnel cannot stay in the Maldives. This is the policy of President Mohamed Muizzu and that of this administration,” Ibrahim added.
Besides, a statement released by the external affairs ministry on both discussed the way to find a “mutually workable solution to enable continued operation of Indian aviation platforms that provide humanitarian and [medical evacuation] services to the people of Maldives,” Hindustan Times reports. There are around 77 Indian military personnel in the Maldives to handle two helicopter and aircraft which have carried out hundreds of medical evacuations and humanitarian services.
Meanwhile, Sagarika Ghose sharing the news paper report on Maldives giving deadline to withdraw its military staff, remarked it as “the fallout of too much “nationalist” hate on social media.”
Dear @BJP4India IT Cell trolls and loyalist celebrities, below ⬇️ the fallout of too much “nationalist” hate on social media. Lesson: yes protest against individual impolite ministers but to call for the boycott of an entire country that too a tiny nation, hits India’s… pic.twitter.com/46uMiwMDol
— Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) January 15, 2024
