Days before his country made a formal request to India to withdraw its military from the Island nation, President Mohamed Muizzu had insisted removing the Indian military was the top foreign policy priority for the tiny Indian Ocean island chain.
Muizzu won Maldives' presidential election, beating President Ibrahim Solih who had followed an ‘India first’ policy.
Muizzu in his poll campaign had promised to remove a small Indian military presence of some 75 personnel in Maldives. He had told Reuters that the focus is not on the actual number of military personnel, it is on not having any at all in the Maldives.
Rivals India and China have invested millions of dollars in infrastructure in the islands as they seek to build influence. The coalition backing Muizzu is known to be close to China but Muizzu told Reuters he was not pro-China or anti any country.
India which has longstanding cultural, financial and security ties with Maldives, denied it aims to establish a military presence in the islands.
China has invested in infrastructure projects as it builds closer ties and pursues its Belt and Road vision of transport and energy networks.
Also watch: President Muizzu's office: Maldives 'formally' asked India to withdraw military presence
Muizzu has recently said he will seek details of an agreement signed with India to build a naval harbour for Maldivian forces. He told Reuters that Maldives need development of the naval base but it doesn’t mean there should be a setup in which foreign military presence is required for its operations.