President Mohammad Muizzu, who has vowed to send back Indian troops from Maldives, has clearly refused to tell about the ‘deal’ made between the two countries.
The Maldives government has said that it will not make public the agreement reached with the Indian government for the withdrawal of 88 Indian soldiers deployed in Maldives. This information was given in a media report on Wednesday.
The first batch of about 25 Indian soldiers deployed in Maldives has returned to India. These soldiers were operating the helicopter given as a gift.
Following a high-level meeting between the two sides in New Delhi on February 2, the Maldives Foreign Ministry said India will withdraw its troops operating three aviation platforms in the Maldives by May 10.
According to the report of news portal Edition.mv, Muizzu has said that the processes for removal of Indian troops are moving forward under the agreement which was unanimously signed with the Indian government for the withdrawal of troops. However, he refused to tell about this deal.
This disclosure came under an RTI.
In fact, Miharu News, a subsidiary of Edition.mv, had filed an RTI with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Maldives requesting information on the agreement signed between the two countries under the Right to Information Act (RTI).
However, the ministry’s response said that they cannot make a copy of the agreement public.
The administration of former Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih had also withheld information about defense agreements signed with India, the news portal said.
The main reason given for this was that there was a fear that the disclosure would threaten national security. Although Muizzu has promised that he will reveal this information to everyone during his tenure, but will not be able to tell it now.
Following his anti-India rhetoric, Maldivian President Mohammed Muizzu took a conciliatory stance on March 22, saying India would remain his country’s “close ally” and urging New Delhi to provide debt relief to the archipelagic nation. Did.
By the end of last year, Maldives owed India approximately US$409 million.
Since taking oath as President in November last year, pro-China Maldivian leader Muizzu had adopted a tough stance towards India and demanded that Indian military personnel operating three aviation platforms be sent back from their country by May 10. .