Maldivian President-elect Mohamed Muizzu, who is set to assume office on 17 November, has said that he would kickstart formalities to expel foreign troops from the country on the first day in office.
Addressing a victory event in Male on Monday evening, Muizzu stated that no foreign soldier would be allowed to stay in the country “against the wishes of Maldivian people”, according to local media reports.
Muizzu, who represents a coalition of Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM)-People’s National Congress (PNC), claimed that he had been voted as the new President because of his election pledge of removing foreign soldiers within the “constraints of law”.
During his election campaign, Muizzu backed the ‘India Out’ drive, which involved opposition supporters threatening Indian diplomats in the country and voicing concerns over the presence of Indian military in the Indian Ocean nation.
Muizzu said on Monday that he would convey the new government's stance to the diplomats who would call on him in coming days, adding that that "close relations" with other countries could be maintained on the particular condition. He didn't name India in his remarks.
The outgoing administration of President Ibrahim Mohamad Solih, who is from the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), had condemned the ‘India Out’ campaign.
The outgoing Maldivian administration has been a firm backer of ‘India First’ policy, prioritizing ties with New Delhi.
Indian Defense Cooperation With Maldives
According to a Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) brief on India-Maldives relations, defense and security has been a major focus of bilateral ties since 1988.
Both countries signed an "Action Plan for Defence" in April 2016 to further strengthen their defense ties.
According to the MEA, the Maldivian National Defense Force (MNDF) meets around 70 percent of its defense training needs with India's help, making New Delhi the top defense capacity-building partner for Male.
Around 1,500 MNDF personnel have been trainied by India in the last 10 years, according to New Delhi.
"Our defence cooperation also extends to the areas of joint exercises, maritime domain awareness, gifting of hardware, infrastructure development, etc," the Indian brief says.