The Government has revealed that there are 77 Indian military personnel in the Maldives in different capacities.
At a press conference today, the Under Secretary for Public Policy Mohamed Firuzul Abdul Khaleel said that out of the 77, 24 Indian soldiers were here to operate on one helicopter and another 25 Indian soldiers were here to operate the Dornier aircraft.
He also said that 26 Indian soldiers were stationed in the Maldives to operate the second helicopter and that 2 others were here for engineering and maintenance.
The Under Secretary then gave the details of the operations carried out by the Indian military aircraft. He said that they were involved in 661 medical evacuations, 220 surveillance operations, and 100 search and rescue missions.
He added that they have been used in aircraft defense and transfer training as well.
Firuzul further said that the new government remove any clauses in any bilateral agreement that might endanger the country's sovereignty and in the last 5 years, the country has signed more than 100 bilateral agreements with India.
H noted that the new government is now looking more closely into these agreements.
