Formal negotiations regarding the departure of Indian troops from the island nation were held on Sunday between India and the Maldives.

“After March 15, Indian military personnel are not permitted to remain in the Maldives.” At a press conference on Sunday, Abdulla Nazim Ibrahim from the Maldives President’s Office stated, “This is the policy of President Mohamed Muizzu and this administration”. Ibrahim made the remarks following the India-Maldives Core Group’s inaugural meeting in Male.

According to the MEA, the two parties also talked about ways to “enhance the partnership,” such as accelerating the execution of ongoing projects involving development cooperation. The Indian delegation consisted of Puneet Agarwal, the joint secretary in the MEA for Indian Ocean affairs, and Munu Mahawar, the envoy from India. Ibrahim Shaheeb, the Maldivian ambassador to India, and Abdulla Fayaz, the president’s chief of staff, were part of the Maldives team.

A day after Muizzu’s return from China, the Core Group held talks in which he stated, “We may be small, but that doesn’t give you the licence to bully us,” without mentioning any specific nation. He had inked twenty agreements in China and urged Beijing to send more tourists, probably in an attempt to offset the thousands of cancellations Indian travelers had made following several Maldivian social media posts.