Maldives to get free military assistance from China, inks agreement to promote 'stronger' bilateral ties

China on Monday (March 4) inked a defence cooperation agreement with the Maldives that will offer the island nation free military aid to promote "stronger" bilateral ties.

The move comes weeks after President Mohamed Muizzu set a deadline for the departure of the first contingent of Indian military personnel from his country.

The Defence Minister of the Maldives Mohamed Ghassan Maumoon met with Major General Zhang Baoqun, Deputy Director of the Office for International Military Cooperation of China, and discussed strengthening defence cooperation between the two nations.

Maumoon and Major General Baoqun "signed an agreement on China's provision of military assistance gratis to the Republic of Maldives, fostering stronger bilateral ties," the Maldivian defence ministry posted on its X handle.

However, the details of the defence cooperation agreement were not provided.

Meanwhile, China has also gifted 12 environmentally efficient ambulances to the Maldives, reported Edition.mv news portal on Monday.

It said that on Sunday (March 3), Chinese Ambassador to Maldives Wang Lixin presented the letter gifting the ambulances to the Maldives in a ceremony held at the Ministry of Health.

The visit of the Chinese military delegation also comes days after Male permitted Xiang Yang Hong 03, a hi-tech Chinese ship owned by a research institute that reports to Beijing's natural resources ministry, to make a port call for the "rotation of its personnel and replenishment."

Research done 'exclusively'for peaceful purposes, claims China

China's foreign ministry has repeatedly claimed that the "research" done by the vessel was "exclusively" for peaceful purposes to benefit scientific understanding.

The ministry spokesperson also previously defended the port call by the ship to the Maldives saying, "China's scientific research activities in relevant waters are for peaceful purposes and aimed at contributing to humanity's scientific understanding of the ocean."

According to news agency Reuters report, an Indian security official previously said that the vessels were "dual-use", which means that they collect data which can be used for both civilian as well as military purposes.

Before Sri Lanka imposed a year-long moratorium on foreign research ships, effectively denying China a port of call, a Chinese research vessel docked in the island nation for the very last time in October 2023.

First team of technical personnel reaches Maldives

The visit by a Chinese military delegation to the island nation also comes after India confirmed that its first civilian team of technical experts had reached the Maldives and will replace the military personnel operating an advanced light helicopter in the country.

"The first team of technical personnel to operate the advanced light helicopter has reached the Maldives. It will replace the existing personnel who were operating this platform," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in New Delhi at his weekly media briefing on February 29.

After the meetings of the high-level core group, the Maldivian foreign ministry announced that India would replace all of its military personnel by May 10 in two phases.

President Muizzu, who is seen as a pro-China leader, has set March 10 as the deadline for the withdrawal of the first group of Indian military troops from his country.

(With inputs from agencies)