Maldives asks India to take back second 'gifted' helicopter
The agreements for the helicopter expired in April
An ALH helicopter gifted by the Indian government being used for medical operations in capital city Malé
The Maldivian government has asked India to take back the second of two ALH helicopters gifted by the Indian government.
Indian newspaper Times of India ran an article reporting that the deals for both helicopters expired in April and that both need to be removed from Maldivian territory, with one having been stationed in Laamu atoll and the other in southernmost Addu City.
The Maldives National Defence Force returned the other helicopter, ‘Dhruv’, 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 ‘fig leaf’.
The armies of both nations had refrained from engaging in military operations together after India deployed the INS Sumedha in mid-May for a military training program in Maldives' exclusive economic zone.
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.
