अपनी पसंद की खबर खोजें
New Delhi: India has withdrawn all its 90 soldiers from the Maldives replacing them with suitable technicians, ahead of the May 10 deadline set by Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu for the complete withdrawal of Indian military personnel from his country, government official said.
The development came as Maldivian Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer visited India. He met External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Thursday. They had extensive discussions on bilateral ties and regional security issues.
At a media briefing in New Delhi, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the first and the second batches of the Indian personnel returned to India and “now deputation of competent Indian technical personnel has taken place” to operate the three Indian aviation platforms.
The relations between the two countries came under severe strain after Muizzu, a pro-China leader, had set May 10 as the deadline for the withdrawal of the 90 Indian military personnel from his country. The Indian military personnel were stationed in the Maldives to operate and maintain two helicopters and Dornier aircraft India gifted the island nation earlier.