Chinese military delegation visited Maldives, Sri Lanka and Nepal
Beijing: A Chinese military delegation visited the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Nepal to discuss further enhance cooperation in defense issues, Beijing said on Wednesday.
China is seeking to build closer ties in South Asian nations in a push to counter its strategic rival India for influence, the statement issued here today said.
Last week, the Maldives said it had signed a “military assistance” deal with China after ordering Indian troops deployed in the small but strategically-placed archipelago to leave.
The statement issued from Beijing confirmed on Wednesday that Chinese delegation had visited the Maldives and met with pro-China President Mohamed Muizzu during a trip that also took them to Sri Lanka and Nepal from March 4 to 13.
In all three countries, the Chinese delegation exchanged views on military relations and regional security issues of common concern”, the Chinese military said in a statement on its official WeChat account.
The delegation of officials from the military’s international cooperation department focused on “in-depth consultations on promoting bilateral defense cooperation”.
“A series of consensus was reached to further enriched defense cooperation between the PLA and the relevant countries,” it added, referring to the Chinese military by its official acronym.
It is worthy to be mentioned here that the Maldives has asked India to vacate its troops as per the agreement signed by two countries, an official of Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) also confirmed it saying that so far 25 troops of India have left the Maldives which is as per plan of withdrawal of troops signed by two countries. The two sides have agreed to complete the withdrawal if Indian forces by May 2024.
India is suspicious of China’s growing presence in the Indian Ocean and its influence in the Maldives, a chain of 1,192 tiny coral islands stretching around 800 kilometers across the equator, as well as in neighboring Sri Lanka.
Both South Asian island nations are strategically placed halfway along key east-west international shipping routes.
Beijing also enjoys close ties with Nepal, led by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, an ex-Maoist guerrilla known by his nom de guerre Prachanda.
