Maldives, India start talks to withdraw troops: Report

January 14, 2024 16:25

PM Narendra Modi meets Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu/File image

Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu has asked India to withdraw its military personnel from his country by March 15, a senior official here said on Sunday, nearly two months after Male sought their removal.

According to the latest government figures, there are 88 Indian military personnel in the Maldives.

In a press briefing, Abdulla Nazim Ibrahim, the public policy secretary at the President's Office, said that President Muizzu has formally asked India to withdraw its military personnel by March 15, the SunOnline newspaper reported.

"Indian military personnel cannot stay in the Maldives. This is the policy of President Dr Mohamed Muizzu and that of this administration," he said.

Maldives and India have set up a high-level core group to negotiate the withdrawal of troops.

The group held its first meeting at the Foreign Ministry Headquarters in Male' on Sunday morning.

The meeting was also attended by Indian high commissioner Munu Mahawar, the report said.

Nazim confirmed the meeting and said the agenda for the meeting was the request to withdraw troops by March 15.

The Indian government did not immediately confirm the media report or comment on it. -- PTI

« Back to LIVE

TOP STORIES

Porsche crash: Teen's parents named in 900-page chargesheet

The 900-page chargesheet, submitted on Thursday in a sessions court, has excluded the 17-year-old boy, whose case is being handled separately by the Juvenile Justice Board.

Sebi bans Vijay Mallya from securities market for 3 years

Sebi on Friday barred fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya from the securities markets and restrained him from associating with any listed firm for three years in the matter of routing of funds to the Indian securities market using overseas...

RBI proposes to tighten banks' LCR norms, releases draft guidelines

In view of the rising number of mobile and internet banking users, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has proposed to tighten norms related to the liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) by increasing the run-off factor for retail deposits....

Forex reserves jump $4 bn to new high of $670.86 bn

Surpassing the all-time high level achieved the previous week, India's forex reserves jumped by another $4 billion to $670.86 billion for the seven days ended July 19, the Reserve Bank said on Friday. The overall reserves had jumped by...

NTA declares final NEET-UG results, toppers down to 17 from 61

"The re-revised score cards are live now," a senior NTA official said.