Reasons for Dornier aircraft request same now as it was in 2016: high commissioner

The reasons for Maldives’ request for a Dornier aircraft is the same now as it was in 2016, says Indian High Commissioner Sunjay Sudhir, adding that three Maldivians have already been trained to operate the aircraft.

The high commissioner revealed this, and some other details regarding Maldives’ request for a Dornier aircraft, during an interview to RaajjeTV’s Maldives Weekly programme last weekend.

The announcement of India gifting a Dornier craft to Maldives was officially made during jailed former President Abdulla Yameen’s tenure, in April 2016. The request was made during the former president’s official visit to India, the same month.

Highlighting that the request for a Dornier was made by the Yameen administration in 2016, High Commissioner Sudhir stressed that the reasons for the request remains the same today as well.

As such, Sudhir noted that a Dornier aircraft was requested for maritime surveillance to monitor Maldives’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) as well as high availability disaster recovery purposes and search and recovery operations.

Noting that the reasons are the same now as well, the high commissioner said that some more reasons “have been added.” He said that this includes counter terrorism operations as well as drug operations, adding that “with the help of surveillance aircraft like Dornier, it is much easier to combat these kinds of things.”

While there are also claims that the Dornier is connected to India’s plans to establish a military base in the island nation, a claim denied by authorities multiple times, the high commissioner also revealed that three Maldivians have already been trained to operate the aircraft.

As such, he said that two pilots and an observer were trained in 2017 and added that more can be trained.

While the Dornier aircraft deal was reached in 2016, the Yameen administration decided to return the gift two years later, shortly after a visit by Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa. The current administration has since reverted this decision.

Maldives' historic relations with India turned sour during Yameen's tenure, however, the relationship has improved since incumbent President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih took over in November 2018. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a short visit to the country to attend Solih's inauguration ceremony, the president's first state visit was to India.

The government, back in July, announced that work is underway to acquire a Dornier aircraft, as per the agreement signed with India by the previous administration.