Maldives President Muizzu calls to fortify military capabilities

Male [Maldives], February 5 (ANI): Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu on Monday highlighted the need to fortify the military capabilities of the island nation and augment its modern capabilities for a comprehensive defence strategy encompassing terrestrial, aerial, and maritime domains.
Muizzu "underscored the necessity for the Maldives to fortify its military capabilities across terrestrial, aerial, and maritime domains as part of a comprehensive defence strategy."
He also highlighted that Maldives' defence force is "on the verge of achieving round-the-clock surveillance capabilities over the nation's 900,000-square-kilometre Exclusive Economic Zone," according to a press release by Maldives President's office.
As the Maldivian President delivered his first Presidential address, the island nation's two main opposition parties--the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and the Democrats Party--chosen not to attend the presidential statement scheduled for today, Maldives-based media outlet Mihaaru reported.
A total of 56 MPs boycotted the opening sitting. This includes 13 MPs from the Democrats and 44 MPs from the MDP.
In his address, Muizzu further emphasised that while "safeguarding our nation's sovereignty, the primary commitment in governance will be to place the welfare of the people and the nation at the forefront, guided by the 'Pro Maldives' principle".
The President also stated that diplomatic negotiations were underway for the withdrawal of Indian troops. He detailed that, as agreed in the last negotiations, the military personnel on one of the three aviation platforms would be withdrawn before March 10, 2024, and the military personnel on the remaining two platforms would be withdrawn before May 10, 2024.
The President also said that the "Maldivian government has officially communicated that it will not renew the agreement enabling foreign nations to measure and map the Maldivian oceans and coastlines."
Notably, the removal of Indian troops in the Maldives was the main campaign of Muizzu's party. Currently, there are around 70 Indian troops, along with Dornier 228 maritime patrol aircraft and two HAL Dhruv helicopters, stationed in the Maldives.
On the second day of assuming office, Muizzu officially requested the Indian government withdraw its military personnel from the Maldives. In December last year, Muizzu claimed that, after talks with the Indian government, an agreement was reached to withdraw Indian military personnel.
Last week, the second meeting of the high-level core group between the Maldives and India took place in New Delhi.
"Both sides agreed that the Government of India will replace the military personnel on one of the three aviation platforms by March 10, 2024, and will complete replacing military personnel on the other two platforms by May 10, 2024," the Maldives Foreign Ministry stated.
The Maldives said that both sides reviewed the existing bilateral cooperation to improve and enhance the partnership in the fields of defence and security cooperation, economic, and development.
It was also agreed that the third meeting of the high-level core group will be held in Male on a mutually agreeable date during the last week of February. Notably, the Ministry of External Affairs stated in its statement that both India and the Maldives have agreed on a set of mutually workable solutions to enable the continued operation of Indian aviation platforms that provide humanitarian and medvac services to the people of the Maldives.
It said that the two sides continued their discussions on wide-ranging issues related to bilateral cooperation towards identifying steps to enhance the partnership, including expediting the implementation of ongoing development cooperation projects. (ANI)