The maldives wants to be "fully independent" and is therefore asking the indian troops stationed in the island nation to leave, President-elect Mohamed Muisu has said. The move is said to have come as both New delhi and beijing vie for influence in their region. In a heated election campaign, Muizu had accused incumbent President Ibrahim Soli of allowing india unbridled dominance in the island nation's affairs and of surrendering the country's sovereignty by allowing indian troops to be stationed there. "It's an indian foreign military presence," Muizu, the newly elected head of the indian Ocean archipelago, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television, adding that his reaction would be the same regardless of where the troops are from any other country.
About 70 indian Army personnel maintain radar stations and surveillance aircraft with support from New Delhi. It is also worth noting that indian warships help patrol the Maldives' exclusive economic zone. Muizu said that he had already started talks with the indian government on the withdrawal of his military forces and that those talks were "already very successful". "We want a mutually beneficial bilateral relationship," Muisu said, clarifying that just because I am telling india to withdraw troops, "doesn't mean I am going to allow china or any other country to bring their troops here."
Muizu now promises to reverse course by removing indian troops and addressing the adverse trade balance with its South Asian neighbours. "We want to get help, cooperation with all countries," said Muisu. Muisu was the mayor of Malé, the capital of the maldives, and a one-time housing minister. Muizu leads a party that welcomed Chinese loans and oversaw a wide-ranging crackdown on dissent when it was last in power five years ago. Spread over 187 islands with a population of more than 500,000, the maldives is a tourist destination and on the front lines of climate change.
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