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India and Maldives to strengthen bilateral defence relationship

September 16, 2012 at 16:45

Sahil

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The Indian defence minister, AK Antony held a high level meeting with his Maldivian counterpart, Col (Retd) Mohamed Nazim in the capital city of Male today.

During the meeting it was decided to strengthen the military relationship between the two sides, especially in the fields of defence training, marine patrol and surveillance, and counter-terrorism operations. After the meeting, the Maldivian minister announced that the two sides have agreed to take a united stand against the terror organizations and the non-state actors in the region.

Nazim claimed that the friendship between India and Maldives will remain stable, despite the change in government. Meanwhile the Indian defence minister informed the media that the Indian Air Force will be sending a team of qualified flying instructors to the Maldives, to train the personnel from the Maldivian Air Force. In addition to this, Antony said that advanced training for the Maldivian personnel will be made available at the facilities run by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), in the city of Bangalore.

Nazim also praised the efforts being made by the Indian naval forces, in preventing the incidents of piracy in the Maldivian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). He also commended the move by India, to station a defence attaché in Maldives.

The visit by the Indian defence minister comes in the backdrop of another high level visit by the Maldivian president, Mohammed Waheed to China earlier this month. Waheed had signed several crucial agreements during his Beijing visit, including those in the infrastructure, trade and defence sectors. The Chinese officials had also agreed to provide the island nation with $500 million, in soft loans.

China has been quietly increasing its diplomatic and military influence in the South Asian region, much to the discomfort of the regional giant India. Last year China had opened its embassy in Male, despite visible protests by the Indian officials. Defence analysts have claimed that China is looking forward to increase its presence in the region, to counter the growing influence of India in the South China Sea region. India had recently signed several agreements with Vietnam, including plans for oil and natural gas exploration in the Vietnamese controlled part of the South China Sea.

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