Indian civilian team reaches Maldives to replace military personnel manning aviation platforms

Male: Ahead of the March 10 deadline for withdrawal of Indian military personnel in the Maldives, an Indian civilian team has reached here to take charge of one of the three aviation platforms in the island nation, local media reports said on Wednesday.

“The civilian team to operate and maintain the aircraft has now arrived in Maldives. The Indian civilian team arrived in Addu early last night to complete the handover/takeover process,” a news portal themaldivesjournal.com said quoting a statement by the Maldives Defence Ministry.

After a high-level meeting in Delhi on February 2 between the two sides, the Maldivian foreign ministry said India will replace its military personnel operating the three aviation platforms in the Maldives by May 10 and the first phase would be completed by March 10.

There are 88 military personnel manning the three Indian platforms that have been providing humanitarian and medical evacuation services to people of the Maldives for the last few years using two helicopters and a Dornier aircraft. (PTI)