New Maldives president asks India to withdraw military personnel from his country

Male: Less than 24 hours after taking oath as the President of Maldives, Mohamed Muizzu on Saturday formally requested India to withdraw its military personnel from his country, saying the Maldivian people have given him a "strong mandate" to make this request to New Delhi.

Muizzu's request came when India's Union Minister Kiren Rejiju paid a courtesy call on the new president at the latter's office, the Maldivian President's Office said in a press release.

The exact number of Indian military personnel in the Maldives is not known. Muizzu, an engineerturned-politician, took oath on Friday as the eighth president of the strategically-located archipelago nation in the Indian Ocean.

Underscoring India's ‘Neighbourhood First Policy', Rijiju represented the country at Muizzu's inauguration ceremony.

A close associate of former Maldives President Abdulla Yameen, who forged close ties with China during his Presidency from 2013 to 2018, Muizzu, 45, defeated India-friendly incumbent Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in the presidential runoff held in September.

Muizzu had repeatedly indicated during the election campaign that the withdrawal of Indian military troops from the island nation is among the issues that need to be resolved by the two countries.

Soon after the oath-taking on Friday, Muizzu asserted that he was firmly committed to ensuring that his country remains "free" of any "foreign military presence" to preserve its independence and sovereignty. However, he did not name any country in his inaugural address.

“At the meeting, President Muizzu formally requested the Government of India to withdraw its military personnel from the Maldives.

"The President noted that at the Presidential Election held in September, the Maldivian people had given him a strong mandate to make the request to India and expressed the hope that India will honour the democratic will of the people of the Maldives,” the statement from the President's Office said here.

While discussing the matter with Rijiju, Muizzu also acknowledged the significant role of the two helicopters in providing numerous emergency medical evacuations in the Maldives.

Maldives is India's key maritime neighbour in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and occupies a special place in the Prime Minister's vision of ‘SAGAR' (Security and Growth for All in the Region) and the ‘Neighbourhood First Policy.' (PTI)