Breakthrough achieved at second India-Maldives core group talks

While the Maldives did not officially say who the replacements will be, it is learnt that the three Indian platforms will continue with their humanitarian operations in the Maldives, which indicates that the Indian armed forces personnel could be replaced, possibly by Indian civilians, in these two phases.

New Delhi, in its statement, did not mention these specific dates but confirmed that both India and the Maldives had “agreed on a set of mutually workable solutions to enable continued operation of Indian aviation platforms that provide humanitarian and medical evacuation services to the people of the Maldives”.

The apparent breakthrough comes nearly three weeks after the Maldives in mid-January set a deadline of March 15 for India to withdraw its small contingent of troops that has been operating the three platforms in the archipelago nation. The Maldivians had set the deadline around the time of the first meeting of the committee in the Maldivian capital Male in mid-January.

The Maldivian statement on Friday indicates that New Delhi has made concessions in agreeing to replace its armed forces personnel. The Maldivians had earlier indicated that they were agreeable to India continuing with the humanitarian operations if they were carried out by civilians instead of uniformed personnel.

In an apparent reflection of a certain softening of position towards India, the Maldivian statement said, “Both sides reviewed the existing bilateral cooperation for improving and enhancing the partnership in the fields of defence and security cooperation, economic and development partnership.”

The third meeting of the committee will take place in the last week of this month in Male.

In its separate statement issued, New Delhi said: "During the meeting, both sides continued their discussions on wide-ranging issues related to bilateral cooperation towards identifying steps to enhance the partnership, including expediting the implementation of ongoing development cooperation projects. Both sides also agreed on a set of mutually workable solutions to enable the continued operation of Indian aviation platforms that provide humanitarian and medevac services to the people of the Maldives."

This comes after newly-elected Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu had earlier hurled another round of thinly-veiled barbs at India soon after his return from China last month, claiming his country will not be “bullied” and that the Indian Ocean does not belong to any single country.

The Maldivian President appears to be under enormous pressure, after calls from the Opposition there that he apologise to India for his taunts.