Will Indian troops be moved out of the Maldives? The two countries met in the national capital to decide on the same with New Delhi saying that they "agreed on a set of mutually workable solutions" with no mention of troops' withdrawal. The Maldives, on the other hand, claimed that the Indian troops will be "replaced" by May.
"During the meeting, both sides continued their discussions on wide ranging issues related to bilateral cooperation towards identifying steps to enhance the partnership, including expediting the implementation of ongoing development cooperation projects," said the Ministry of External Affairs in a statement.
"Both sides also agreed on a set of mutually workable solutions to enable continued operation of Indian aviation platforms that provide humanitarian and medvac services (medical evacuation) to the people of Maldives," the Ministry added.
India has a deployment of around 80 personnel, including medical staff, to operate three aircraft to patrol the archipelago's vast maritime territory.
"Both sides agreed that the Government of India will replace the military personnel in one of the three aviation platform by March 10 and will complete replacing military personnel in the other two platforms by May 10," the Maldivian foreign ministry said today in a statement after the meeting.
The two sides decided to set up the core group following a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Muizzu on the sidelines of the COP28 summit in Dubai in December.
Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu came to power in November after pledging to evict Indian forces.
New Delhi considers the Indian Ocean archipelago to be within its sphere of influence, but the Maldives has shifted into the orbit of China - its largest external creditor.
Upon return from his first state visit to China in January, the President told India to withdraw its troops by March 15.