Defence pacts with India being amended, says Maldives

The Maldives said existing defence agreements with India are being amended to ensure they do not compromise the Maldives’ sovereignty and independence, media reports said in Male.

The Maldives on Tuesday (May 6, 2025) said existing defence agreements with India are being amended to ensure they do not compromise the Maldives' sovereignty and independence, media reports said in Male.

Defence Minister Mohamed Ghassan Maumoon also told Parliament members that 74 Indian soldiers stationed in the Maldives, who were repatriated under an agreement reached with India last year, were unarmed while in the Maldives.

Mr. Maumoon's statements come days after Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu, during a marathon 15 hour press conference, said that there is nothing to worry about the agreements signed by the previous government with other countries, including with India.

Mr. Muizzu's comments had drawn criticism from the opposition leader who demanded his apology for making “false claims” during the 2023 election campaign regarding the pacts with nations such as India.

On Tuesday (May 6, 2025), while answering questions raised by Parliament members, Mr. Maumoon said, the agreements formed with India as part of long-standing close ties between the two countries had been amended or is being amended “to ensure that they protect the sovereignty and independence of Maldives,” according to a report in newsportal edition.mv.

The Public Service Media (PSM News), the state-run news agency, quoted the Minister as saying that since the Maldives gained independence in 1965, more than 100 agreements were signed with India and of those, the Defence Ministry oversees four.

One of the key agreements under review pertained to the development of a naval dockyard at Uthuru Thilafalhu with Indian assistance, the PSM News said.