VOIWORLD
Mohamed Muizzu, the president-elect of the Maldives, has reaffirmed his intention to remove Indian soldiers from the archipelago. Muizzu, who will officially assume office next month, has asserted that he will remove Indian soldiers through diplomatic channels within the first week of taking office. Muizzu, who is largely seen as a pro-China politician, declared that this was one of his top goals and that he would ask India to withdraw its soldiers on “day one” after entering office.
In the second and decisive round of the presidential elections held last month, Muizzu, a member of the opposition alliance consisting of the Progressive Party of the Maldives and the PNC, received 54% of the vote. He has frequently pledged to withdraw any Indian foreign troops stationed in the Maldives during and after his campaign. This was part of the opposition’s platform during the election, which charged that the former Mohamed Solih administration had a tight relationship with New Delhi.
On October 4, the Indian High Commissioner to the Maldives, Munu Mahawar, called the president-elect and gave him a letter from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shortly after the election. However, Muizzu stated that he would like to “restore relations with India on the basis of respect for sovereignty” in the Maldivian readout of that meeting, which omitted any direct mention of the dispute surrounding the presence of Indian forces.
Now, ahead of the transition of power, in an interview with Al Jazeera, Miuzzu said, “I actually met with the Indian high commissioner a few days ago during the transition period, and during that meeting itself, I mentioned that we need this to be our top priority.” They have positively noted that and have said that they will work together with us to find a way forward on this.”
The previous Ibrahim Mohamed Solih government had consistently insisted that Indian forces were not involved in any military operations and that only a small number of security personnel were stationed to fly donated helicopters for patient transport. PPM leader Abdulla Yameen originally stirred up the debate about the supposed deployment of Indian forces in the final few months of his administration. President Yameen’s request for a withdrawal was rejected by India, but he was quickly overthrown in the 2019 elections.
