Maldives president asks India to withdraw troops by Mar 15

Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu on Sunday asked India to withdraw all Indian military personnel deployed in the Indian Ocean archipelago by March 15, with New Delhi saying the two sides would hold further discussions on the matter.

Muizzu made the demand as a high-level core group set up by the two countries to address the issue held its first meeting in Male. Muizzu informed the Maldivian delegation participating in the meeting to inform Indian officials that the troops must be with drawn by mid-March, Abdulla Nazim Ibrahim, principal secretary to the Maldivian president, told a media briefing in Male.

This is the 12th meeting to discuss the withdrawal of Indian troops and the talks are evidence of the government's desire to "move ahead with the drawal of Indian troops in a civilised and diplomatic manner without endangering the relationship between the two countries", Ibrahim was quoted as saying by the local media.

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

A statement issued by the external affairs ministry both sides discussed ways to find a "mutually workable solution to enable continued operation of Indian aviation platforms that provide humanitarian and [medical evacuation] services to the people of Maldives".

There are some 77 Indian military personnel in the Maldives to operate two helicopters and an aircraft that have carried out hundreds of medical evacuations and humanitarian sorties.