Indian Troops Need To Leave Maldives, Says Incoming President
NDTV
Around 70 Indian military personnel maintain New Delhi-sponsored radar stations and surveillance aircrafts. Indian warships help patrol Maldives' exclusive economic zone.
Maldives intends to be "fully independent" and will ask Indian troops stationed in the island nation to leave, says President-elect Mohamed Muizzu, as New Delhi and Beijing both vie for influence in the region.
In a heated election campaign, Muizzu had accused incumbent Ibrahim Solih of allowing India unchecked sway over the island nation's affairs and of surrendering the country's sovereignty by allowing Indian troops to be stationed there.
"It happens to be Indian foreign military presence here," Muizzu, the newly elected head of the Indian Ocean archipelago, said in a wide-ranging interview to Bloomberg TV. He added that his reaction would be the same if the troops were of any other country.
