Indian warship INS Sumedha entered Maldivian waters on Saturday for a nine-day operation, that authorities have said will primarily improve security at the local exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
Indian newspapers have quoted officials there saying that the regional superpower and Maldives have had an illustrious joint military history, and that this operation will bolster bilateral ties in this regard.
The INS Sumedha will be in the Maldives from May 11th to May 17th, and they are to conduct a joint surveillance operation in Maldives' EEZ.
Officers of the Indian military – specifically two naval officers and eight sailors – are also set to conduct training programs for local servicemen and woman of the Coast Guard. This ‘diving and asymmetric warfare training exercise is called Ekatha’, the Indian navy had said.
This is the first such operation between India and the Maldives after incumbent President Abdulla Yameen’s administration declined India’s invitation to a defence exposition in south Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
This was after the Maldives National Defence Force returned an AL helicopter called ‘Dhruv’, which was a gift from India, claiming that it ‘was not up to standards’. Indian officials have said on record that the move has been seen as duplicitous, with one claiming that the reason provided was ‘figleaf’.
In February, the Maldives also denied India’s invitation to ‘Milan’, an eight day mega naval exercise that 16 countries were part of.
Relations between India and Maldives have been especially sour since it called on the island nation to implement the Supreme Court of February 1, which President Yameen describes as an attempted “judicial coup”. India continues its call to implement the “ruling issued by the Supreme Court’s full bench”, and not one passed later after the contentious arrests of two justices.
In a statement released on February 22nd, the Maldivian government accused Indian officials of making public statements “that ignore facts and ground realities”, denouncing the country's official stance on Maldives' political situation as 'unhelpful'.
