India on Thursday for the first time confirmed that the military personnel based in Maldives were being brought back.
The confirmation came in response to questions on the first batch of civilian personnel reaching Maldives this week to replace the military team that was operating the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) at Gan, the southernmost island of the archipelago.
Since Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu made the withdrawal of Indian military personnel from his country his first order of business after assuming office in November, India has never publicly conceded that it had agreed to this demand.
Asked about reports of the arrival of the first batch of "civilians" in Maldives to replace the military personnel, external affairs ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said: "We have had the first batch of technical personnel reaching Maldives to replace the existing personnel."
He did not challenge the use of the word "civilians" for the team replacing the military personnel and confirmed that the existing personnel based in Maldives to operate the helicopter and other aircraft presented by India was being replaced. The spokesman sidestepped questions on how many personnel will be sent to Maldives.
As to whether the replacement was being done as per the schedule announced by Maldives — begin the process from March 10 and end it by May 10 — Jaiswal said: "Obviously, these issues are decided in mutual consultation."
