Chief of Defense Force Major General Abdullah Shamaal says Maldivian servicemen would soon take the controls of the military helicopters currently manned by foreigners.
Answering a question from a reporter at the news conference held earlier today, Major General Shamaal said no solider at MNDF had done solely helicopter piloting but training was currently underway.
He highlighted several obstacles that have been hindering progress in this regard and noted that recently 6 individuals were working as pilots but were trained from different military academies with various backgrounds.
India had provided military helicopters to the Maldives under an agreement made between the two countries back in 2010 under the regime of former President Mohamed Nasheed. The agreement stipulated that India must train Maldivian pilots to man the helicopters.
But 10 years have passed since the agreement was signed and yet no Maldivian servicemen had been trained to pilot the helicopters.
When indian army going back to india? #indiaout