Maldives cancels hydrology agreement with Indian Navy
NEW DELHI: After having asked India to withdraw its military personnel from the Maldives, President Mohamed Muizzu has decided to pull out from a 2019 agreement for cooperation in the field of hydrology between the Indian Navy and Maldives National Defence Force. Male Thursday notified India about its decision to annul the agreement which was signed during PM Narendra Modi’s visit to the country in June 2019.
The agreement allowed the Indian Navy to carry out extensive hydrographic surveys in the Maldives to help improve navigation safety, economic development, security and defence cooperation, environmental protection, coastal zone management and scientific research. The navy had so far carried out 3 such surveys under the agreement that Muizzu’s predecessor Ibrahim Solih signed with India.
"In the future, hydrography works will be carried out under 100 percent Maldivian management, and with only Maldivians privy to the information," said a senior official of the president’s office, adding that the government will review "secret agreements" signed by the previous administration that endangered Maldives’ independence and sovereignty.
The new government under Muizzu, which took over last month and is seen widely as pro-China, had said earlier it will review some of the agreements that the previous government had signed with India, while also calling for efforts to expedite work on Indian economic projects like the flagship $ 500 million Greater Male Connectivity Project.
Muizzu has also remained intent on driving out Indian military personnel, who are involved in operating and maintaining the 2 naval choppers and a Dornier aircraft India had gifted to Male, even though Indian government sources claim that in the meeting he had with Modi in Dubal on the margins of COP28, the president acknowledged the utility of Indian “platforms’’ involved in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief activities.
According to Indian authorities, discussions are still on to keep these Indian assets operational and that the core group that the 2 leaders agreed to form to enhance bilateral ties will work to find a ``workable solution’’. After he returned to Male though, Muizzu said
