China inked a defence cooperation agreement with the Maldives on March 5. This pact offers free military assistance to the island nation, strengthening bilateral ties between the two countries. The agreement comes just weeks after Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu requested the withdrawal of a contingent of Indian military personnel stationed there.
The Defence Minister of the Maldives, Mohamed Ghassan Maumoon, met with Major General Zhang Baoqun, Deputy Director of the Office for International Military Cooperation of China, to discuss enhancing defence cooperation between the two countries. They later “signed an agreement on China’s provision of military assistance gratis to the Republic of Maldives, fostering stronger bilateral ties," the Maldivian defence ministry posted on its X handle.
The details of the defence cooperation agreement were not provided. Meanwhile, China has also gifted 12 eco-friendly ambulances to Maldives. In a ceremony held at the Ministry of Health on Sunday, Chinese Ambassador to Maldives, Wang Lixin, presented the letter gifting the ambulances to the Maldives, it said.
The visit of the Chinese military delegation took place days after Male allowed Xiang Yang Hong 03, a hi-tech Chinese research ship, to make a port call for the “rotation of its personnel and replenishment."
On January 5, Sri Lanka, while denying entry to the same ship, said it had declared a moratorium on foreign research ships entering its waters for a year amid concerns from India over Chinese research vessels docking in its neighbourhood and collecting data from the oceans, including in the Indian Ocean Region, for military purposes, especially for submarine
operations.
