New Delhi has committed that the present personnel in the Maldives, an Island country, will be replaced by ‘competent Bharatiya technical personnel’.
At the second meeting of the Bharat-Maldives High-Level Core Group, the matter was discussed. According to the external affairs ministry, both countries had admitted to the solutions mutually to resume the operation of Bharatiya aviation platforms which supply humanitarian and medvac services.
Several types of defence equipment, such as helicopters and Dornier aircraft, have been provided to Maldives from Bharat. Over 80 Bharatiya defence personnel are there to operate this equipment which has been a controversial matter ever since Mohamed Muizzu, Maldivian President criticised PM Modi.
Moosa Zameer, the Maldivian Foreign Minister, said after the meeting last week, “Both the countries have agreed that the Bharatiya government will put back the military personnel in one of the three aviation platforms by March 10, 2024” and replacement of military personnel will continue in other two platforms by May 10, 2024’.
According to the media reports, earlier Muizzu had asked Bharatiya troops to leave the country by March 15, 2024.
However, Bharat did not mention withdrawing the troops. When asked about the aid allocation for the Maldives, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated, “Some had clarified the budgetary allocation as going down, but others said it has gone up”.
Jaiswal stated, “Some amount of money is allocated, and there’s a phase for revision. This time, the budget for Maldives is Rs 779 crore as against Rs 600 crore which was predicted earlier and has gone up. With more details on what kind of movement is happening, the new figures will also be revised”.
“We are a significant progressive partner, and committed progressive partner”, said Jaiswal.
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