MALDIVES PRESIDENT-ELECT SAYS MOVING INDIAN TROOPS OUT IS ‘TOP MOST PRIORITY’

Wed 18 October 2023:

New Delhi: Stating that he would like Indian troops to be moved out in the first week of his presidency, Maldives president-elect Mohamed Muizzu said he had indicated the seriousness of this foreign policy priority to New Delhi during his meeting with the Indian high commissioner soon after his electoral victory.

A candidate of the opposition coalition of the Progressive Party of Maldives and PNC, Muizzu won 54% of the votes in the second and final round of the presidential elections held last month.

During his campaign and after the results, he had repeatedly promised to remove any Indian foreign troops stationed in Maldives. This had been part of the opposition’s campaign platform, which had accused the previous Mohamed Solih administration of working too closely with New Delhi.

Soon after the polls, the Indian high commissioner to Maldives Munu Mahawar called on the president-elect on October 4 and handed over a letter from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Maldivian readout of that meeting didn’t explicitly refer to the controversy over the presence of Indian troops, but that Muizzu would like to “restore relations with India on the basis of respect for sovereignty”.

In a recent interview with Al Jazeera television, Muizzu stated that he had personally raised the matter with India.

“I have actually met with the Indian high commissioner few days ago during the transition period and during that meeting itself, I had mentioned that we need this to be our top most priority. They have positively noted that. And they have said that they will work together with us to find a way forward on this,” he said.

The Maldives is currently going through a transition period, with Muizzu’s term set to start on November 17 with a formal swearing-in ceremony.

Asked when he would request India to remove the troops, he said, “Definitely day one.”

To a follow-up question on the timeline for the withdrawal of troops, Muizzu replied, “…if it is possible within the first week, that’s how serious for us it is”.

He said that there were serious doubts about Maldives’s independence if foreign troops were stationed on its territory.

“We have been a very peaceful country for centuries. We never had any foreign troops on our soil. We are a very small country. We do not have a big military set up and any foreign troops seen on our soil, we don’t feel ourselves secure,” the president-elect said.

The Solih administraation had repeatedly stated that there was no military operation by Indian troops and that only some security personnel were stationed to operate donated helicopters for medical evacuation.

The controversy over the alleged presence of Indian troops was first raked up by PPM leader Abdulla Yameen during the last few months of his presidency. India objected to President Yameen’s demand for withdrawal, but he was soon ousted in the 2019 elections.

Maldives president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Credit: Maldives government website

“President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has agreed about Indian military presence, but he did not disclose the nature of this presence because of which the citizens no longer wish for them to remain in Maldives any longer. That is also the reason why the public did not choose the current administration,” said the new president-elect.

He also that there were conflicting reports about the numbers – ranging from thousands to hundreds – of Indian troops stationed in Maldives. “We don’t [know] how many are here… Because when the media asks for information, it is censored,” he said.

Muizzu hoped that when took over the presidency, the number of Indian troops would only be “10 or 20”, but added that even that would not be low enough.

“I will make sure that we find a way to talk diplomatically with the Indian government to remove them from our soil as soon as we can,” he told Al Jazeera.

To another question about general military cooperation with India, he indicated that it would continue, saying, “Military cooperation has always been there with different countries.”

He said he wouldn’t like to increase military cooperation with China to balance with India.

Noting that half of Maldives’s external debt was from Indian borrowed loans, Muizzu said that he had also raised it with the Indian envoy, who had been positive about it. “We need a way to refinance and if possible waive (it off),” he said.

When asked whether India would have any incentive to remove foreign troops when the Maldives was asking for debt waiver, Muizzu replied, “They have clearly said that in the very first meeting that I had with the high commissioner.”

He also stated that India didn’t seem inclined to diminish its development assistance or investment in the Indian Ocean state. “I really don’t think they will do that. They may be interested in giving more lines of credit to invest in the tourism sector.” Muizzu said.

Stating that the Maldives always had a good relationship with India, he added, “I don’t want it to be any different. It is only the sovereignty issue… I will definitely be positive towards development assistance from India.”

He also that Maldives would also like to have close ties with China as with all other countries, but also noted that Beijing never extended its assistance in a way that would interfere in the internal affairs or impact the sovereignty of Maldives.

Earlier, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs had talked about the need to work closely on security challenges after Muizzu raised the issue of Indian troops.

“All I would say… the focus of our partnership with the Maldives has always been on capacity building and working together to address our shared challenges and priorities, including security challenges and priorities. As neighbours, we need to collaborate closely to address these challenges confronting our region, such as transnational crimes and Humanitarian and Disaster Relief situations. We look forward to engaging with the new administration in the Maldives with all these issues,” said the MEA spokesperson at a media briefing on October 5.

-The Wire

______________________________________________________________

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

WhatsApp CHANNEL
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAtNxX8fewmiFmN7N22