Edited by Deepali Verma
A demand for removal of foreign troops from Maldives, the recovery of lost territory as well as the elimination of “harmful agreements” was why his government had been voted to power, said President Mohamed Muizzu to the Maldivian Parliament on February 5.
His initial address to the People’s Majlis (Parliament of Maldives) was sparsely attended, that is, only by 24 lawmakers out of the 87-member House. The top two Opposition parties boycotted Muizzu’s speech. They stand in stark contrast to Muizzu’s stark “anti-Bharat” pivot and hold a majority in the House.
Muizzu, having won the presidential elections in September 2023, made it explicit that he viewed his mandate as one to ensure the “removal” of foreign soldiers, which is the 77 unarmed Bharatiya military personnel that have been stationed in Maldives as per the agreements signed between the two countries.
“A large majority of the Maldivian people for our government are in agreement for the removal of foreign soldiers from this land, in order to hold the territory lost from Maldivian waters and do away with any deals that have the potential to harm the sovereignty of the Maldives,” Muizzu said, as reported by Maldivian news website Adhadhu.
Muizzu, during his address in the Parliament, announced the phased removal of the Bharatiya military personnel, with the first group leaving on 10 March while the second group departing the island by 10 May 2024.
Bharat and Maldives are in agreement for a phased replacement of troops during the second meeting of the high-level core group held in New Delhi, according to the Maldivian foreign ministry. The statement released by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of Bharat made no such mention of the agreement.
The 77 unarmed personnel stationed in the Maldives have two Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopters and a Dornier aircraft gifted to the Maldives National Defence Forces (MNDF), besides the training of the Maldivian military.
The helicopters were made use in case of medical evacuations from various islands in the archipelago, which has saved close to 500 lives since January 2019 till late 2023, as reported by ThePrint earlier.
Making his intentions clear, Muizzu said that he had no intention of renewing the current hydrographic agreement with Bharat. The agreement allowed Bharat to comprehensively engage in the study of the territorial waters of the island nation and was signed on 8 June 2019 during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Maldives. The renewal was due in June 2024.
“It has been made official that the Maldivian state will not renew the agreement which gives Bharat substantial powers to draw charts of Maldives boundaries and the seabed,” said Muizzu, as per the Adhadhu.
Building up patrolling capacity
To further cut down Bharat’s role in the Maldives, Muizzu pledged to ensure the capabilities of the Maldivian armed forces to patrol its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) for twenty-four hours a day. This is a task that Bharat has historically done in partnership with the government of Maldives.
In early January, Maldives signed a $37 million deal with Turkey to purchase military drones to patrol the high seas, as ThePrint reports. Turkey has moved up from the ground as one of the biggest exporters of drones, both armed and unarmed in recent years.
Bharat and Maldives ties have been strained after three deputy ministers, who now stand suspended, have made disparaging remarks against Modi in January.
Social media users played a great part in promoting tourism to Lakshadweep after Modi visited the union territory and urged the Bharatiya people to spend time on the island. This resulted in derogatory responses from the three deputy ministers.
The remarks led to calling for a boycott of tourism to Maldives. Since the call, Bharatiya citizens have fallen from being the number one source for tourists to the island archipelago in 2023, to the fifth position this year according to data published by the Maldivian Ministry of Tourism.
Near-empty Parliament
Nearly 24 members of the People’s Majlis attended Muizzu’s first address. The two largest opposition parties namely the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) and the Democrats, both had boycotted Muizzu’s address. MDP MP and Speaker of the House Mohamed Aslam, did attend the session.
The MDP as well as the Democrats have a total of 56 MPs in the Parliament. As per a statement by the MDP, Muizzu’s government has made an attempt to “encroach” on the privileges of the Parliament and undermined the institution that led to the boycott of his address.
