[The High Commissioner of India to Maldives, Amb Munu Mahawar, called on President-elect of Maldives Mohamed Muizzu on Wednesday October 04, 2023 in Male.]
Male: The President-elect of Maldives Mohamed Muizzu said no foreign troops will stay in the archipelago state, a clear indication that the presence of the Indian military in the tiny country is no more guaranteed.
Mohamed Muizzu won the 2023 Presidential election in Maldives defeating the incumbent president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. During his tenure India and Maldives had signed a deal popularly known as UTF (Uthuru Thila Falhu- Island) Harbour Project in 2021.
As part of this agreement, India is supposed to develop and manage a dockyard and harbour on the island of Uthuruthilafalhu near the Maldivian capital of Male for a period of 30 years. The project was inaugurated in May this year in the presence of Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
Solih insisted that the Indian military’s presence in the Maldives was only to build the dockyard under the UTF agreement between the two governments and that his country’s sovereignty won’t be violated.
The opposition however are of the view the presence of the Indian military in Maldives is a threat to its sovereignty. Those critical of the UTF agreement also said that despite being referred to as a harbour and dockyard, the facility has all the features of a military base.
The matter also became a poll issue during the 2023 presidential election, and the President-elect Mohamed Muizzu now clearly declared that all foreign troops will be required to leave Maldives.
"Those who have deployed [Indian] troops here would not want to keep them here if we don't want it. The people have decided and don't want Indian troops to stay in the Maldives. Therefore, foreign soldiers cannot be here against our sentiments, against our will," Atoll Times quoted Muizzu as saying who was addressing his supporters first time after winning the elections.
“So, I have to tell the ambassador who is going to meet me that we will have a very good relationship with these values”, Muizzu, who is viewed by India as pro-China, said a day before the High Commissioner of India to Maldives, Amb Munu Mahawar, called on him.
There is a lot of secrecy surrounding the UTF agreement and also about the exact number of Indian troops in Maldives. But, according to some reports, India maintains a military presence in Maldives to operate the Dornier aircraft and two helicopters gifted to Male in 2020 and 2013, respectively.
The Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) had in November 2021 informed the Parliamentary Committee on Security Services that 75 Indian military personnel were stationed in Maldives to operate the aircraft and choppers.
There are also reports that the Indian soldiers are stationed across various locations in the Maldives and as per the agreement between the two countries, they are also allowed to carry firearms on the island.
Against this backdrop, Mohamed Muizzu’s stand vis-à-vis “presence of foreign troops” is likely to jeopardise India’s interests in Maldives, especially the UTF agreement signed as part of its Look East Policy or Act East Policy.
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