Muizzu Asks India to Withdraw Indian Troops from Maldives by March 15: Why are Indian soldiers in Maldives? Why is Muizzu so adamant that Indian forces evacuate the Maldives? And why are there any Indian forces at all stationed in the islands? What makes them strong? We elucidate the five main causes of the distrust and dread throughout the archipelago.

Nearly two months after the Maldives requested their departure, Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu has asked India to remove its military forces from his country by March 15, a senior official said in Male on Sunday.

“Indian military personnel cannot stay in the Maldives. The public policy secretary of the President’s Office, Abdulla Nazim Ibrahim, stated, “This is the policy of President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu and this administration.”

India and the Maldives have formed a high-level core committee to negotiate the army pullout. The group’s first meeting took place at the Foreign Ministry Headquarters in Male on Sunday morning. Indian High Commissioner Munu Mahawar reportedly attended the conference as well, according to Maldivian media sources.

The Indian government denied the media’s accusation and refrained from commenting right away. Why is Muizzu so adamant that Indian forces evacuate the Maldives? And why are there any Indian forces at all stationed in the islands? What makes them strong? We clarify.

In the Maldives, how many Indian troops are there?

There isn’t a substantial Indian military presence in the Maldives, despite what the ‘India Out’ propaganda would have you believe. The latest government statistics indicate that there are eighty-eight Indian military soldiers in the Maldives.

At different times, Indian soldiers have been dispatched to the Maldives to train Maldivian forces in combat, reconnaissance, and rescue/aid operations. However, some Maldivians, including some politicians, have objected to their presence in the nation in any capacity. The ‘India Out’ campaign, according to analysts in both India and the Maldives, has inflated the importance of these soldiers’ presence in the Maldives and painted it as a danger to the nation’s security.

Various causes have contributed to the escalation of anti-Indian sentiments, which were further heightened during the recent Maldivian presidential elections marked by a profusion of misinformation, especially targeting India. This is caused by several factors, one of which is the myth that the Maldivian Democratic Party, led by Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, was an Indian-influenced political party. Pro-China is the coalition of the People’s National Congress and the Progressive Party of the Maldives, whose presidential candidate, President Muizzu, won the 2023 election.

How come Indian troops are in the Maldives?

The Maldives and India have a long history of working together on several projects, including defence. India’s forces only conducted a real military action on the island once, in November 1988, when they were called in by the administration of then-President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom to stop an attempted coup. Indian army secured the President and apprehended the insurgents in a swift operation. Maldives has generally acknowledged India’s part in this episode in the thirty years that have passed.

The ‘India Out’ campaign started sometime in 2020, a significant delay. Ever since pro-China Progressive Party (PPM) leader Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom was elected president in 2013, animosity had been brewing.

Which five main factors are behind the suspicion and fear?

The long-running controversy surrounding the two Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopters (ALF) that India had given to the Maldives in 2010 and 2015—both of which were stationed in Addu Atoll and Hanimaadhoo—and their use for airlifting patients between islands, maritime weather surveillance, and ocean search and rescue operations—was one of the main causes of this.

As per the conditions of the bilateral agreements between the two nations, Indian personnel were dispatched to the Maldives to provide training to the Maldives National Defence Force, which is in charge of these helicopters.

Research analyst Dr. Gulbin Sultana of the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, whose area of expertise includes the Maldives, said in 2021 that “these helicopters were for humanitarian purposes only, but some in the anti-India constituency, particularly Yameen’s party PPM, were trying to portray that India was creating a military presence in the country by gifting these helicopters.”

The apparent lack of transparency by the Solih government about its interactions with India was another significant source of complaints within the Maldives.

Furthermore, India is a major source of marine security for the Maldives. India, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka work together to combat common maritime security threats and challenges like illegal trafficking, piracy, and illegal, unregulated (or unreported) fishing, which is a major concern for the archipelago, as Maldivian history expert Rasheeda M Didi wrote for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in 2022.

Didi noted that the National College of Policing and Law Enforcement was housed in the Maldives’ brand-new police academy, which was constructed with Indian assistance. The enormity of the edifice and its surroundings is the main cause of the opposition’s [now in power] skepticism. According to a rumor circulating, the academy’s size is solely intended to accommodate Indian faculty members and their families, making it a prime location for the immigration of additional Indians. But this speculation is baseless,” she stated.

One such factor is the February 2021 agreement on the UTF Harbour Project, which was signed by India and the Maldives. Under this agreement, India was responsible for building and maintaining a dockyard and coastguard harbor in Uthuru Thilafalhu, an atoll strategically placed close to the capital, Malé. The idea that the UTF project might become an Indian naval facility was floated by certain sections of the Maldivian media. Even before the deal was signed, Major-General Abdulla Shamaal, the Maldivian chief of defense forces at the time, made it clear that although the Indian government had promised to offer grant support for the project, there were no plans to establish an Indian naval facility in the nation.

SOURCE: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-global/why-are-indian-soldiers-in-maldives-9109278/#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20terms%20of,whose%20command%20these%20helicopters%20operate.