Amidst the ongoing dispute with India, Maldives has signed another agreement with China.
China on Monday signed a defense cooperation agreement with the Maldives to provide free military assistance to boost “strong” bilateral ties.
This agreement has come at a time when President Mohammad Muizzu has set a deadline to expel Indian military personnel from Maldives.
A day earlier, Maldives Defense Minister Mohammed Ghassan Maumoon met Major General Zhang Baokun, Deputy Director of China’s Office for International Military Cooperation, to discuss enhancing defense cooperation between the two countries.
The Maldives Defense Ministry said on its
Let us tell you that Maldives has not given much information about the latest defense cooperation agreement. But this agreement has come at a time when China’s spy ship equipped with high-technology weighing 4500 tonnes has left the coast of Maldives.
Meanwhile, Edition.mv news portal reported on Monday that China has also gifted 12 eco-friendly ambulances to Maldives. At a ceremony held at the Health Ministry on Sunday, Chinese Ambassador to Maldives Wang Lixin presented a letter of gift of ambulances to the Maldives.
Chinese ship stopped in Maldives
Earlier, the Chinese ship, officially named Jiang Yang Hong Three, had anchored at the port for “change of personnel and supplies”.
Maldives had allowed the Chinese ship Jiang Yang Hong 03 to dock at Male port for “rotation of its personnel and logistics exchange”. A few days later, the Chinese military delegation visited Maldin.
On January 5, Sri Lanka had refused to allow the entry of Jiang Yang Hong Three and said that it has announced a ban on the entry of foreign research vessels in its maritime limits for one year.
India had expressed concern over the anchoring of Chinese research vessels in its neighbourhood. Coincidentally, this Chinese ship was near the site of the India-Maldives-Sri Lanka trilateral ‘Dosti-16’ exercise. This exercise took place between 22 February and 25 February.
First civilian technical team reaches Maldives to replace military personnel: India
India on Thursday said its first civilian team of technical experts has arrived in the Maldives to replace military personnel operating an advanced light helicopter.
Maldivian President Mohammed Muizzu had set March 10 as the deadline for the return of the first group of Indian military personnel from his country. “The first team of technical personnel to operate the advanced light helicopter has reached Maldives,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in his weekly press conference.
It will replace the existing personnel operating the helicopters.” After the second meeting of the high-level core group set up to resolve the issue related to the withdrawal of Indian military personnel, the Maldives Foreign Ministry had said that India will deploy two helicopters by May 10. Will withdraw all its military personnel in phases. The second meeting of the core group was held in Delhi on February 2.
Spoiled relations with India
There was some tension in relations between the two countries after Muizzu came to power in November last year. Muizzu, widely seen as a pro-China leader, said after taking over as President that he would keep his election promise of expelling Indian military personnel from the country.
Muizzu had defeated the then President Ibrahim Mohammad Solih, considered a friend of India, in the presidential elections held in September last year.