Maldives to formally end pact with India on water survey

New Delhi: President Mohamed Muizzu's government, which came to power on an "India Out" poll campaign, has chosen not to renew the previous government's agreement with India on a hydrographic survey of the island nation's waters, barely one month after asking India to remove its military personnel from the Maldives.

The agreement allowed India to conduct a hydrographic survey of the Maldivian territorial waters, and study and chart reefs, lagoons, coastlines, ocean currents, and tide levels. It was signed on June 8, 2019, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the Maldives at the invitation of then-President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.

This is the first bilateral agreement that the newly-elected Maldives government, which took charge in November, is officially terminating, Indian Express reported.

The Muizzu government has chosen not to extend the hydrography agreement, which expires on June 7, 2024, according to Mohamed Firuzul Abdul Khaleel, Undersecretary for Public Policy at the Maldives President's Office, during a press conference on Thursday.

“According to the terms of this agreement, if one party wishes to drop the agreement, the other party must be informed of the decision six months before the agreement is set to expire. According to the terms, the agreement automatically renews for an additional five years, otherwise,” he said.

According to Firuzul, the Maldives have informed India that they do not want to move further with the arrangement.

The Indian High Commission in the Maldives has been informed of the Muizzu administration's decision by the Maldives government, according to sources in Male.

Muizzu made the decision after consulting his cabinet. The Sun quoted Firuzul saying the administration believes it is “best for national security to improve the Maldivian military’s capacity to conduct such surveys and protect such sensitive information”.

“In the future, hydrography works will be carried out under 100 per cent Maldivian management, and with only Maldivians privy to the information,” he said.

Muizzu stated earlier this month that the Indian government had consented to remove its troops from the Maldives.

According to sources in New Delhi, Muizzu met Prime Minister Modi during the COP28 summit in Dubai, where they had a brief discussion about the matter. They said that talks were "ongoing" and that "the core group" that the two parties had decided to form would "look at details of how to take this forward" regarding how to maintain the operational helicopters and aircraft in India.

Unlike previous Maldivian presidents who made India their first stop after taking office, Muizzu selected Turkey as his first overseas destination.

For emergency medical evacuations and disaster relief missions, the island nation's Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) is equipped with two helicopters and one aircraft from India. To run these platforms are 77 Indian military troops stationed in the Maldives.

Muizzu won the presidential election after campaigning on a platform of altering the Maldives' "India First" policy and removing Indian military forces.