Maldives snubs again, tells India to scale back military personnel

New Delhi, Aug 11: Maldives wants India to withdraw military helicopters and personnel following the experts off an agreement in June, an envoy said. This is the latest snub by the Abdulla Yameen's China backed government.

India has opposed Yameen's crackdown on political rivals and the imposition of an emergency this year and some of the president's rivals have called on New Delhi for military intervention, creating worries in the Maldivian government, a Reuters report stated.

The report while quoting Maldives' ambassador in India, Ahmed Mohamed, said that two military helicopters provided by India were mainly used for medical evacuations but were no longer required as the islands had built up enough resources of its own.

"They were very useful in the past but with the development of adequate infrastructure, facilities and resources we are now in a position to handle medical evacuations on our own," he said.