India to further bolster defence cooperation with Maldives

NEW DELHI: India has assured Maldives it is committed to further enhancing the defence cooperation and security partnership, ranging from exercises and capacity building of its armed forces, with the 1,190-island archipelago where China is making steady strategic inroads.

This came at an hour-long meeting between defence minister A K Antony and his visiting Maldivian counterpart Mohammed Nazim here on Monday. IAF chief Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne, who is also the chairman of the chiefs of staff committee, also called on Nazim, apart from the Army and Navy vice-chiefs and the Coast Guard director-general.

``It was decided to take measures to step up cooperation in the ongoing areas of training, exercises, infrastructure-strengthening and capacity-building.Both sides also agreed that there is a need for India and Maldives to continue to work together to tackle security concerns in the interests of peace and stability in the region,'' said an officer.

India is helping Maldives to set up a network of ground radars in all its 26 atolls as well as bolstering cooperation in the fields of military training, hydrography, maritime patrol and surveillance.

With Maldives still locked in a political tussle, China is trying to expand its footprint in the strategically-located country in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) after establishing a full-fledged embassy there. Over the last decade, China has steadily forged maritime links with eastern Africa, Seychelles, Mauritius, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Cambodia, among others.

India, on its part, has tried to counter these strategic moves in the IOR by stepping up its own defence engagement with the countries concerned. Ever since Antony's visit to Male in August 2009, for instance, Indian warships and Dornier reconnaissance aircraft have been regularly helping Maldives in maritime patrol and surveillance.

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