On Monday, China signed a defence cooperation agreement with the Maldives to provide free military assistance to strengthen bilateral ties.
It comes weeks after Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu set a deadline for the withdrawal of the first group of Bharatiya military personnel from his island nation.
Mohamed Ghassan Maumoon, Defence Minister of the Maldives met with Major General Zhang Baoqun, Deputy Director of the Office for International Military Cooperation of China, to discuss better defence cooperation between the two countries.
Maldivian defence ministry posted on its X handle, ‘Maumoon and Major General Baoqun “signed an agreement on China’s provision of military assistance gratis to the Republic of Maldives, fostering stronger bilateral ties’
The specifics of the defence cooperation agreement were not provided. Meanwhile, Maldives got 12 eco-friendly ambulances from China, according to the media reports.
Chinese Ambassador presented the letter gifting the ambulances to the Maldives Wang Lixin in a ceremony held at the Ministry of Health on Sunday.
The visit of the Chinese military delegation happened after Male allowed Xiang Yang Hong 03, a hi-tech Chinese research ship to make a port call for the rotation of its personnel and replenishment.
Sri Lanka denied entry to the same ship on January 5. ‘It has declared a moratorium on foreign research ships entering its waters for a year amid concerns from Bharat over Chinese research vessels docking in its neighbourhood’, said Sri Lanka.
It also added, ‘Collecting data from the oceans, including in the Indian Ocean Region, for military purposes, specifically for submarine operations’.
The Maldives is one of Bharat’s key maritime neighbours in the Indian Ocean Region and the overall bilateral ties which also include areas of defence and security, observed an upward route under the previous government in Male.
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