Mohamed Muizzu promised to make sure that the tiny island nation “has no foreign military presence on its soil” during his remarks at the ceremony marking his ascension to the presidency of the Maldives. Shortly later, the President formally asked New Delhi to remove its military forces during a meeting with Union Minister Kiren Rijiju. According to Indian government sources, the two parties have decided to talk about “workable solutions” so that the island country may keep using Indian military systems as long as they benefit its citizens.
Maldivian troops of Indian descent
Just over 70 Indian soldiers stationed in the island states. These employees fly surveillance planes and operate radars supported by India. The region’s Indian warships assist in policing the nation’s exclusive economic zone. President Dr. Muizzu thanked in a statement released by his office the important contribution played by two Indian helicopters in many emergency medical evacuations. For a number of years, this tiny contingent of Indian soldiers has stationed in the Maldives. India and the Maldives’ partnership, according to the Ministry of External Affairs, predicated on working together to meet common goals and issues. The ministry had stated that India’s help and platforms had made a substantial contribution to public welfare, humanitarian aid, disaster relief, and the fight against illicit marine activities in the island nation.
An Area of High Geopolitics
The Maldives, an island nation roughly one-fifth the size of Delhi, is home to around 5 lakh people and a well-liked travel destination. However, the island has turned into a geopolitical hotspot due to the Indian Ocean region’s rising strategic significance and boundary disputes between China and India, two important Asian countries. Beijing and New Delhi have both made significant investments in the island’s development as part of a long-term geopolitical strategy. The president of the Maldives has emphasized that his country want to collaborate with China and India, but he has also emphasized that the island nation “too small to entangled in geopolitical rivalry”.
The China Angle
Under Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s leadership, relations between the island country and New Delhi improved. President Muizzu takes over. President Muizzu, a former minister and Male mayor, is linked to former President Abdulla Yameen, who took significant loans from Beijing while in office from 2013 to 2018. Muizzu had informed the Chinese Communist Party a year prior that, should his party win the elections, he would like closer relations with Beijing. “We look forward to returning to government in 2023, with President Yameen at the helm, to script a further chapter of strong ties between our two countries, both domestically and internationally,” he had stated. Yameen nominated Muizzu after he was prohibited from running for office due to a felony record and an 11-year prison sentence for corruption.
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