'Lies': Maldives Ex-Minister Slams President Muizzu's Claims Of Withdrawing Indian Troops

Former Maldivian foreign minister Abdulla Shahid on Sunday said that President Mohamed Muizzu's claims of withdrawing "thousands of Indian troops" were just another "in a string of lies".

In a post on X, the newly elected president of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) said there were no armed foreign soldiers stationed in the island nation and the Muizzu government's inability to provide the number of foreign troops in the island nation "speaks volumes".

He claimed that "transparency matters and that the truth must prevail."

During the election campaigns, Muizzu's party had promised voters on the removal of Indian troops from Maldives. Currently, there are around 70 Indian troops, along with Dornier 228 maritime patrol aircraft and two HAL Dhruv helicopters, stationed in the Maldives.

Just after assuming office, Muizzu officially requested the Indian government to withdraw its military personnel from the Maldives.

Last December, Muizzu had claimed that following talks with the Indian government, an agreement was reached to withdraw Indian military personnel.

The president also stated that diplomatic negotiations were underway for the withdrawal of Indian troops. He detailed that, as agreed in the last negotiations, the military personnel on one of the three aviation platforms would be withdrawn before March 10, 2024, and the military personnel on the remaining two platforms would be withdrawn before May 10, 2024.

Earlier this month, the Ministry of External Affairs said that India will replace military personnel at aviation platforms in the Maldives with competent Indian technical personnel.

The request for the removal of Indian military personnel arose amidst tensions between the two nations, triggered by derogatory comments posted by three deputy ministers of the Muizzu government against Prime Minister Narendra Modi om January. Muizzu took decisive action by suspending the three ministers following their controversial social media posts, causing concern in India and leading to calls for a boycott by Indian tourists, who constituted the largest group, followed by Russian tourists, with Chinese tourists ranking third.