President Mohamed Muizzu of the Maldives has formally demanded that India withdraw its military deployment from the island nation. The president’s administration made the request public in an official statement.
The Maldivian President’s office stated that his country “hopes that India will honour the democratic will of the people. ’Muizzu made the plea earlier in the day during a meeting with Earth Sciences Minister Kiren Rijiju in Malé.’
‘The President noted that at the Presidential Election held in September, the Maldivian people had given him a strong mandate to make the request to India and expressed the hope that India will honour the democratic will of the people of the Maldives,’ the statement read.
‘When Minister Rijiju called on President Muizzu, the President brought up the issue of Indian military personnel present in the Maldives for operating aircraft for medical evacuation and counter drug trafficking purposes,’ it added.
The request to evacuate Indian troops from the island nation came just one day after Muizzu assumed office as Maldivian president. Muizzu, a 45-year-old engineer-turned-politician, was sworn in as the island nation’s eighth president. Rijiju, along with other South Asian ministers, attended Muizzu’s inauguration ceremony on Friday.
According to the statement, the request to India was a ‘strong mandate of the Maldives people,’ and the conference also reviewed ‘various projects in the Maldives with the support of India.’
‘The President (at the meeting with Rijiju) emphasised the importance of accelerating the Greater Male’ Connectivity Project (GMCP), and highlighted the importance of addressing and overcoming the issues delaying the project,’ according to the statement.
According to the Maldivian president’s office, ‘the Minister expressed his aspiration to foster a constructive relationship with the Maldives, acknowledging the presence of a vibrant Indian community residing in the Maldives.’
During the election campaign, Muizzu stated that one of the concerns that must be settled is the evacuation of Indian troops from the Maldives. He stated his commitment to keeping the Maldives ‘free’ of any ‘foreign military presence’ in order to protect its sovereignty.
Meanwhile, Kiren Rijiju took to X, formerly Twitter, to reaffirm India’s ties with the Maldives.
‘Conveyed greetings from PM Narendra Modi and reiterated India’s commitment to further strengthen substantive bilateral cooperation and robust people-to-people ties,’ Rijiju said in a tweet.
Muizzu, a 45-year-old engineer-turned-politician, was sworn in as the island nation’s eighth president. On Friday, Rijiju represented the country during Muizzu’s inauguration ceremony. In a September runoff, he defeated Ibrahim Solih, who was seen as pro-India. According to sources, Muizzu recently stated that the Maldives was ‘too small to be entangled in geopolitical rivalry’ and that his foreign policy will not include it.
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