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She, however, refused to disclose the exact figure of the Indian soldiers stationed in the Maldives, stating the details would be shared at a later date, Sun.mv news portal reported.
US envoy Eric Garcetti on Thursday said he respects that India likes its "strategic autonomy", but in times of conflict, there is no such thing as strategic autonomy, even as he pitched for forging a stronger partnership between New Delhi and Washington.
The President stated that due to his government's success in expelling Indian troops from the country, people who spread false rumours, are attempting to twist the situation, a news portal Edition.mv reported.
The missing Malaysian plane was 'highly likely' to have been on autopilot as it flew over the Indian Ocean, Australian officials on Thursday said, as they decided to focus further south to locate the plane that vanished mysteriously over three months back.
Following a high-level meeting in New Delhi on February 2 between the two sides, India agreed to replace its military personnel operating the three aviation platforms in the Maldives by May 10. The first batch left the island nation well before March 10.
The compulsion behind India and Japan to deepen security cooperation is in response to China's growing political and economic clout and its assertive behaviour in disputed areas. This has been the key driver for bringing both India and Japan closer in the domain of security cooperation, explains Dr Rajaram Panda.
A Maldivian minister, who was suspended in January for her derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has now mocked the Indian flag after including parts of the flag in an altered campaign poster of the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), according to a media report on Monday.
Moody's Ratings on Tuesday said India's growing water shortage can disrupt farm and industry sectors and is detrimental to the credit health of the sovereign as rising food inflation and decline in income may spark social unrest. It said decreases in water supply can disrupt agricultural production and industrial operations, resulting in inflation in food prices and hence can be detrimental to credit health of sectors that heavily consume water, such as coal power generators and steel-makers.
The Indian Navy rescued the hijacked Iranian fishing vessel 'Al-Kambar 786' and its crew after more than 12 hours of intense coercive tactical measures as part of an anti-piracy operation on March 29.
The timing coincides with Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu's recent state visit to China, aimed at strengthening ties.
Muizzu's request came when India's Union Minister Kiren Rejiju paid a courtesy call on the new president at the latter's office, the Maldivian President's Office said in a press release.
In a significant move, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has accorded approval for the procurement of more than 200 BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles and associated equipment for the Indian Navy at a cost of around Rs 19,000 crore, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
All arrangements, including heavy security, are in place for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 45-hour stay at the famed Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari on Thursday, as he would sit on meditation at the place named after the revered Hindu saint.
The Sittwe deal is more significant than Chabahar in Iran, where India has rights to operate only two terminals and not the port itself.
The Indian Navy's specialist team had protected them from nine armed pirates, and completed sanitization and seaworthiness checks of fishing vessel Al-Kambar.
The second batch of Indian military personnel manning a helicopter gifted by India to the Maldives has left the island nation as demanded by him, President Mohamed Muizzu has said.
On Thursday, in his first interview with the local media since assuming office, Muizzu said India was instrumental in providing aid to the Maldives and has implemented the "greatest number" of projects.
The permission to allow the Chinese ship comes amid strains in ties between India and Maldives after its new President Mohamed Muizzu came to power and made Beijing as his first port of call early this month after assuming office.
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The Indian Navy, which regards itself as the 'net security provider' in the Indian Ocean Region, has also stepped up to the plate, with a warship stationed at all times off the Gulf of Aden for counter-piracy tasks. 91 Indian warships have been deployed in the region since 2008, patrolling high risk areas where piracy was rampant.
The Indian Navy's P8I maritime patrol aircraft on Thursday located a Chinese fishing vessel that capsized three days ago in the Indian Ocean, officials said.
India and the Maldives on Friday agreed to set up a core group to further deepen their partnership as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a 'productive' meeting with newly-elected Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu and discussed ways to enhance the bilateral friendship across diverse sectors.
Maldivian Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer on Saturday said India's gesture to renew the quota to allow the export of certain quantities of essential commodities for his nation signifies the longstanding bilateral friendship and the commitment to further expand trade and commerce.
There is a view that heavyweight portfolios like home, finance, defence and external affairs besides education and culture, two ministries with strong ideological hues, will be kept by the BJP, while its allies can get anywhere between five to eight cabinet berths.
In a step towards diversifying its resource base and securing green energy minerals, India is poised to launch its first-ever offshore mineral auction in the first quarter of 2024, announced Union Minister of Mines Pralhad Joshi during the launch event of the National Geoscience Data Repository portal. The government plans to hold auctions in March, offering 10-15 blocks for bidding. Meanwhile, the ministry of mines is currently developing rules and regulations for offshore mining.
The mega procurement proposal will shortly be placed before the Defence Acquisition Council, the defence ministry's top body on procurement, they said.
India-France synergy is poised to open vistas of collaboration between the two countries, notes Rup Narayan Das.
The parliamentary election result was also to prove that the Maldivians want "autonomy in choosing their future, without foreign coercion," President Muizzu said, without naming any country, according to the Sun.mv news portal.
Vouching for preserving its independence and sovereignty, Muizzu made a firm commitment to ensure that the Maldives remains "free of any foreign military presence."
Naval ships deployed in the Indian Ocean region are visiting ports of friendly foreign countries and spreading the message of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' on International Day of Yoga forming an 'Ocean Ring of Yoga'.
Along with Modi, senior BJP leaders including Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar, all ministers in Modi 2.0 Cabinet, took oath as cabinet ministers at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. In all, 71 ministers were sworn-in along with Modi, taking the strength of the Union council to 72.
However, the Maldives government has no intention of removing the doctors from India at Senahiya, a media report said.
In a calibrated operation, the Indian Navy on Saturday 'coerced' 35 Pirates onboard a merchant ship around 1,400 nautical miles from the Indian coast to surrender and ensured the safe evacuation of 17 crew members without any injury, officials said.
Indian Navy on Wednesday said its ships and aircraft remain 'mission deployed' for maintaining enhanced surveillance and undertaking maritime security operations.
The principal director of plans, policy, and resources management for the Maldives National Defence Force, Colonel Ahmed Mujuthaba Mohamed said that discussions are underway for withdrawing Indian troops from the Maldives.
The Indian Navy has appointed the first woman commanding officer in a naval ship in sync with its philosophy of 'all roles-all ranks' for female personnel, Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar said on Friday.
There are 88 military personnel manning the three Indian platforms that have been providing humanitarian and medical evacuation services to the people of the Maldives for the last few years using two helicopters and a Dornier aircraft.
Navy officials on Monday said that the swift response by the Indian Navy's mission deployed warship INS Sumitra ensured the safe release of the hijacked vessel and its crew.
The fresh incident comes amid growing global concerns over attacks on various commercial vessels in the Red Sea by the Houthi militants.