India has refuted a charge by Maldivian Defence Minister Ghassan Maumoon, who last week accused an Indian aviation platform of carrying out an "unauthorised landing" at one of the country's airports in 2019.
Speaking at a press conference at weekend, Maumoon stated that a chopper operated at the time by Indian military personnel landed at Thimarafushi without permission, as per Maldivian media reports.
Further, the Defence Minister claimed that he knew about the incident as it had been "reviewed" by a Parliamentary Committee on National Defence, in which he was one of the members.
Reacting to the Defence Minister's allegation, the Indian High Commission in Male said in a statement on Tuesday that the Indian aircraft had necessary clearance from the Maldivian authorities at the time.
"Indian aviation platforms in the Maldives have always operated as per agreed procedures and with due authorization from the Maldivian National Defence Force (MNDF). The specific sortie on 9 October 2019 referred to at a press conference was also undertaken with approval of MNDF,” the Indian mission clarified.
The High Commission said that the emergency landing at Thimarafushi was necessitated due to "unforeseen exigency".
It said that the landing was undertaken after "necessary on-ground approvals from the ATC to ensure safety and security of the platform and crew".
According to a letter from MNDF to the Indian Naval Contingent (INC) commander in October 2019, the Maldivian commander warned that unauthorised landings could pose a threat to “national security” and even trigger “political unrest”.
The allegation by the Defence Minister was made a day after the 10 May deadline of the withdrawal of Indian military personnel from the country, which was a major demand of President Mohamed Muizzu as part of his 'India Out' campaign.
The Indian military personnel were involved in operating aviation platforms, including Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) and Dornier aircraft, gifted by New Delhi for carrying out medical evacuations and providing humanitarian assistance.
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a regular briefing in New Delhi last week that the third batch of Indian military personnel had been replaced by "competent Indian technical personnel".