Sources told that the Maldives government has conveyed the Muizzu administration’s decision to the Indian High Commission.
Just a month after asking India to withdraw its military personnel from the Maldives, the government of President Mohamed Muizzu, whose party came to power through the “India Out” election campaign, decided not to renew the government’s agreement. previous government with India on this issue. a hydrographic project studying the island nation’s waters.
The agreement was signed on June 8, 2019 during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Maldives at the invitation of then President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, allowing India to conduct a hydrographic survey of Maldives territorial waters, study Research and map coral reefs, lagoons, coasts, and oceans. currents and tidal levels.
This is the first bilateral agreement that Maldives’ newly elected government, which took office in November, has officially concluded.
At Thursday’s press conference, Mohamed Firuzul Abdul Khaleel, Deputy Minister of Public Policy at the Maldives President’s Office, said the Muizzu government has decided not to extend the hydrological agreement that expires on June 7, 2024.
“Under the terms of this agreement, if one party wishes to withdraw from the agreement, the other party must be notified of this decision six months before the agreement expires. According to the terms, the agreement will automatically renew for another five years, otherwise, he said.
Firuzul said India has been informed that Maldives is not interested in continuing with the deal.
According to Maldives newspaper The Sun, Muizzu made the decision after consulting his office. The Sun quoted Firuzul as saying that the authorities believe “it is best for national security to improve the ability of the Maldives military to conduct such investigations and protect such sensitive information.”
“In the future, hydrological works will be carried out under 100% Maldivian management and only Maldivians will have access to information,” he said. Sources in New Delhi said the issue was briefly discussed in Dubai, on the sidelines of the COP28 summit, where Muizzu met Prime Minister Modi, and discussions on how to keep the helicopters operational and Indian aircraft are “under way”. core of the problem”. The “group” that the two sides agreed to establish “will consider in detail how to move this forward.”
Muizzu chose Türkiye as his first foreign destination, unlike previous Maldivian presidents who chose India as their first stop after taking office.
The island nation has two helicopters and one aircraft provided by India to the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) to carry out emergency medical evacuation and disaster relief operations. There are 77 Indian military personnel in Maldives operating these platforms.
Muizzu won the presidential election, promising to change the Maldives’ “India First” policy and eliminate the presence of Indian military personnel.
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