Mohammad Muizzu showed his attitude as soon as he returned from China, gave India an ultimatum to withdraw the army by March 15

Relations between Maldives and India are becoming increasingly sour. Meanwhile, Maldives President Mohammed Muizzu has once again given a big statement. The President has again sounded the tune of India Out.

According to the news of news agency PTI, Mohammad Muizzu has asked India to withdraw its military forces from Maldives. He has also given India an ultimatum till March 15. Even before this, Maldives has demanded removal of Indian troops. According to the information, currently 88 Indian soldiers are deployed in Maldives.

According to Maldives, India should leave Maldivian territory by 15 March. After the meeting with Xi Jinping, Muijju has changed his attitude. It is noteworthy that Mohammad Muizzu is known for his opposition to India. He came to power also through India Out campaign.

Meanwhile, information has come that talks have started between India and Maldives regarding the withdrawal of troops. A high level group has also been formed for this. This group has met for the first time at the headquarters of the Ministry of External Affairs. Ibrahim Khalil, minister of the Presidential Strategic Communications Office, told the newspaper that the meeting was at the level of a high-level core group.

He said that Maldives and India had agreed to form this core group during the meeting between Maldivian President Mohammed Muizzu and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the COP28 conference held in Dubai in December.

According to the report, Khalil says the group is discussing the withdrawal of Indian military personnel and accelerating India-backed development projects in Maldives. Last year, immediately after taking oath as President on November 17, Muizzu had requested India to withdraw Indian military personnel from Maldives.

He said the people of Maldives have given him a ‘strong mandate’ to make this request to New Delhi. Khalil had earlier said that the new Maldives administration led by President Muizzu has established that there are 77 Indian military personnel in Maldives. MLA is also now reviewing more than 100 bilateral agreements with New Delhi. Maldives has 24 Indian military personnel to manage the first helicopter, 25 Indians to manage the Dornier aircraft, 26 Indians to manage the second helicopter and two more Indian personnel for maintenance and engineering.

The discussion on the withdrawal of Indian military personnel has come amid the dispute arising between the two countries in the backdrop of derogatory comments posted against Prime Minister Modi by three deputy ministers of the Muizzu government. During his recently concluded state visit to China, Muizzu attempted to bring the Maldives closer to Beijing. Muizzu has suspended three ministers who posted on social media. The ministers’ posts sparked concern in India and calls for a boycott of the Maldives by Indian tourists, who are the second largest in number after Russian tourists. China ranks third in terms of tourist numbers.