The Maldives Ministry of Defense announced that it had signed a agreementd military with Beijing. The 89 Indian soldiers present in the country will have left by May 10 after being ordered to leave the territory by pro-Chinese President Mohamed Muizzu.
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The Maldives announced that it had signed a “ agreement on the provision of military assistance by China » with Beijing on Monday March 4 at the end of the day, specifying that the agreement was “free” without giving further details. He added that the agreement aimed to “ strengthen bilateral ties “.
Minister of Defense @mgmaumoon and Major General Zhang Baoqun, Deputy Director of the Office for International Military Cooperation of the People’s Republic of China, signed an agreement on China’s provision of military assistance gratis to the Republic of Maldives, fostering… pic.twitter.com/OeaAe2QZr9
— Ministry of Defense (@MoDmv) March 4, 2024
Since the election of the pro-Chinese president, Mohamed Muizzucame to power with an anti-Indian program, relations deteriorated cooled with New Delhi. During a public rally north of the capital on Monday March 4, the head of state promised that there would be no more Indian troops in the country after May 10, the date by which they must have completed their withdrawal. These Indian soldiers had been deployed to operate three reconnaissance aircraft donated by New Delhi to Malé to monitor its vast maritime border.
India will replace them with civilian personnel who will operate these planes, and the Maldives Defense Ministry announced last month that Indian civilian crew had started arriving in the atoll.
India is wary of China’s growing presence in the Indian Ocean and its influence in the Maldives, as well as neighboring Sri Lanka, two South Asian island nations that occupy a strategic position midway major international east-west shipping routes.
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Last month, the Xiang Yang Hong 3a Chinese research vessel arrived in Malé after being denied permission to dock in Sri Lanka following reluctance expressed by India, which described it as a spy ship.
The country’s diplomatic reorientation towards Beijing and its distance from its traditional Indian ally are becoming more pronounced every day.
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