New Delhi: Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu on Sunday asked India to “withdraw all Indian military personnel” deployed in the Indian Ocean archipelago by March 15, even as senior officials of the two countries met in Male to discuss the issue.

Muizzu directed the Maldivian delegation participating in the meeting to inform Indian officials that the troops must be withdrawn by mid-March, Abdulla Nazim Ibrahim, principal secretary to the Maldivian president, told a media briefing in Male.

This is the 12th meeting to discuss the withdrawal of Indian troops, and the talks are evidence of the government’s desire to “move ahead with the withdrawal of Indian troops in a civilised and diplomatic matter without endangering the relationship between the two countries”, Ibrahim was quoted as saying by the local media.

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The meeting was held against the backdrop of a dramatic downturn in bilateral relations since Muizzu was elected last year, who has sought to move the Maldives closer to China. Following his return from a visit to China, Muizzu announced a slew of measures apparently aimed at curtailing the Maldives’ dependence on India in key sectors, including healthcare and food security.

Ibrahim Khaleel, a spokesperson for the Maldivian President’s Office, told the local media that the high-level committee, which the two sides had agreed to set up during a meeting between Muizzu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the margins of COP28 in December, was holding its meeting at the foreign ministry in Male.

The talks were focused on the withdrawal of Indian military personnel from the Maldives and expediting India-backed development projects, Khaleel told the media.

Besides Indian high commissioner Munu Mahawar, other diplomats and military attaches from the Indian mission participated in the meeting. The Maldivian side was represented by Abdulla Fayyaz, chief of staff of the President’s Office, chief of defence forces, Maj Gen Abdul Raheem Latheef, Ali Naseer Mohamed, ambassador at large in the foreign ministry, and the Maldivian envoy to India, Ibrahim Shaheeb.

Muizzu, whose campaign for last year’s presidential election centred around an “India out” platform, has called on New Delhi to withdraw 77 military personnel posted in the Maldives to operate two helicopters and an aircraft. Following his return to Male from a nearly week-long visit to China, Muizzu made several remarks and announcements at a news briefing that were apparently aimed against India.

Speaking mostly in the local Dhivehi language, Muizzu noted that relations between China and the Maldives were based on the four pillars of mutual respect, sovereign equality, territorial integrity and non-interference in internal matters. Without naming any country, he said in English, “We may be small but that does not give you the licence to bully us.”

Muizzu announced the government’s universal healthcare insurance scheme, which now covers treatment in India and Sri Lanka, will be expanded to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Thailand. According to an official statement, Muizzu said this will “diminish reliance on confined medical facilities in a select group of countries”.

The Chinese will facilitate the construction of a 100-bed hospital and Chinese assistance will encompass all essential facilities for health centre laboratories across 17 islands, he said.

India is currently the main destination for Maldivians seeking medical treatment, and the helicopters and aircraft provided by India have carried out hundreds of medical evacuations in recent years.

Muizzu announced that agreements were signed with China to help the Maldives expand agricultural growth to ensure food security, according to an official statement. Without naming India, he added his government would “end its dependence on one country for imported staple foods such as rice, sugar, and flour”.

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An agreement has also been concluded with Turkey, the destination of Muizzu’s first foreign visit, for importing rice, sugar and wheat. Medicines will be imported from manufacturers in Europe and the US, he said.

In an apparent reference to the troubled ties with India, Muizzu also said the Maldives is not in any country’s backyard and the Indian Ocean does not belong to a single country. He said China would provide 920 million yuan in “free aid” to the Maldives and that agreements regarding the same were signed during his visit to China to build 30,000 social housing units and a commercial district in Hulhumalé.

The already troubled bilateral relations plummeted further after three junior Maldivian ministers recently posted derogatory remarks against India and its leadership. The ministers were suspended after a strong protest by India, but the row led to a call on Indian social media to boycott the Maldives as a tourist destination.