President of the Maldives Mohamed Muizz has asked the Indian government to withdraw the military from the island nation to protect its democracy.

Maldives President Asks India To Withdraw Military

Muizzu said that if India did not withdraw its forces it would amount to disregarding the “democratic will” of the Maldivian people and jeopardizing the future of the democracy. “Maldivian people have a very no to the idea of foreign military personnel being stationed in the Maldives. Right now, it is India that maintains such a presence in the Maldives. To honour this mandate, I have requested India to return the military personnel,” the President said.

He said that the presence of foreign military personnel, without parliamentary approval, is against the letter and spirit of the constitution. “Defence cooperation in the maritime sector is a long-standing area of cooperation between our countries. We are confident that India’s relationship with us is also based on the same principles,” Muizzu said.

Maldives is India’s key maritime neighbour in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and occupies a special place in the Prime Minister’s vision of SAGAR‘ (Security and Growth for All in the Region) and the Neighbourhood First Policy.’ Maldives’ proximity to the west coast of India (barely 70 nautical miles away from Minicoy and 300 nautical miles away from India’s West coast), and its location at the hub of commercial sea lanes running through the Indian Ocean gives it significant strategic importance to India.

Security Partnership:

Defense cooperation extends to the areas of Joint Exercises – ‘Ekuverin’, “Dosti”, “Ekatha” and “Operation Shield” (begun in 2021).

India provides the largest number of training opportunities for Maldivian National Defence Force (MNDF), meeting around 70% of their defense training requirements.