There was no immediate confirmation from India's defence ministry on the withdrawal of the first batch of Indian military personnel from the Maldives as reported by the media in Maldives.
However, the Maldives government has no intention of removing the doctors from India at Senahiya, a media report said.
China said on Tuesday that it supports the Maldives in safeguarding its sovereignty, as the first batch of Indian military personnel operating a helicopter left the island nation and was replaced by a civilian crew.
President Mohamed Muizzu, known for his pro-China stance, has thanked India for enabling the resumption of medical evacuation services with civilian aviation personnel from India.
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.
Major General Abdulla Shamaal, chief of the Maldives National Defence Force, called on General Manoj Chandrashekar Pande, chief of the army staff, in New Delhi on Thursday, July 28, 2022.
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.
India will replace its military personnel operating three aviation platforms in the Maldives with 'competent' Indian technical personnel even as New Delhi asserted that it remained an important development partner of the island nation.
China on Monday signed a defence cooperation agreement with the Maldives to provide free military assistance to foster "stronger" bilateral ties with Male, weeks after President Mohamed Muizzu set a deadline for the withdrawal of the first group of Indian military personnel from his island nation.
India and the Maldives are in discussions for keeping the Indian military platforms in the island nation and a core group that both sides agreed to set up will look at the details relating to it, official sources said on Sunday.
India has expressed concern about the movement of the Xiang Yang Hong 03 vessel in Indian Ocean waters and also prevailed on Sri Lanka to refuse permission for the ship to dock at Colombo port.
The fire broke out in M. Nirufehi area near the Maaveyo Mosque around 12:30 am, according to news portal SunOnline international.
The Indian government sources said Muizzu, in the meeting, brought up the issue of Indian military personnel present in the Maldives for operating aircraft for medical evacuation and to counter drug trafficking.
Three weeks after India handed over a coastal radar system to the Maldives, Admiral Radhakrishnan Hari Kumar, chief of the naval staff, met Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and other senior leaders of the island nation in its capital Male with a focus on further boosting the bilateral defence ties.
External intervention to help Mohammed Nasheed overcome the mutineers would have been inadvisable, and therefore forced him to step down as president, says strategic expert B Raman.
A Bolivian cargo ship, owned by an Iranian firm was on Monday hijacked, apparently by Somalian pirates in the territorial waters off Maldives, officials said, even as Maldivian forces have sought Indian Navy's help for its rescue.
The Indian government appears to have been caught napping in the Maldives on two counts, says security expert B Raman.
Maldives health minister resigns, appeals for support from international community.
India's silence on this week's troubles in the Maldives is puzzling, says Rajeev Sharma.
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