New government in Maldives reviewing more than 100 agreements with India: Official
Male (PTI): There were 77 Indian military personnel in the Maldives and the new government here was reviewing more than 100 agreements signed with New Delhi, a senior Maldivian official said on Sunday, a day after President Mohamed Muizzu formally requested India to withdraw its troops from the island nation.
Addressing a press conference here, the Undersecretary for Public Policy of the Presidential Office, Mohamed Firuzul Abdul Khaleel said the new administration has established that there are 77 Indian military personnel in the Maldives.
There were 24 Indian military personnel to manage the first helicopter, 25 Indians to manage the Dornier aircraft, 26 personnel to manage the second helicopter, and two more for maintenance and engineering, Firuzul was quoted as saying by the Maldivian media.
He said that President Muizzu, who won the presidential election in September, has initiated efforts to expel all 77 from the Maldives.
The Maldives is one of India's key maritime neighbours in the strategic Indian Ocean Region and the overall bilateral ties including in areas of defence and security have been on an upward trajectory under the government of Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
The Maldives is also one of the biggest beneficiaries of India's Neighbourhood First policy.
During a meeting with Union Minister of Earth Sciences Kiren Rijiju here on Saturday, Muizzu officially requested the Indian government to have their military personnel removed from the Maldives.
Rijiju called on Muizzu, widely seen as a pro-China leader, at his office, a day after attending the Maldivian leader's inauguration ceremony.
Muizzu had built his presidential campaign against Solih on the promise of expelling Indian military personnel from the Maldives. He also said he would review the agreements between Maldives and India, and disclose its contents where possible.
Firuzul said the former administration of ex-President Solih signed over 100 agreements with India, and that the new administration is reviewing them, Sun.mv.com reported.
The agreements in question include the Uthuru Thila Falhu (UTF) agreement and other defence agreements, the report said.
The previous administration had refused to disclose the exact number of Indian military personnel stationed in Maldives, citing that it posed a threat to national security, it said.
Soon after the oath-taking on Friday, President Muizzu asserted that he was firmly committed to ensuring that his country remains "free" of any "foreign military presence" to preserve its independence and sovereignty.
During his meeting with Rijiju on Saturday, President Muizzu formally requested the Government of India to withdraw its military personnel from the Maldives.
"The President noted that at the Presidential Election held in September, the Maldivian people had given him a strong mandate to make the request to India and expressed the hope that India will honour the democratic will of the people of the Maldives," the statement from the President's Office said.
While discussing the matter with Rijiju, Muizzu also acknowledged the significant role of the two helicopters in providing numerous emergency medical evacuations in the Maldives.
In May, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited the Maldives during which he handed over a fast patrol vessel and a landing craft to the island nation.
Maldives is India's key maritime neighbour in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and occupies a special place in the Prime Minister's vision of SAGAR' (Security and Growth for All in the Region) and the Neighbourhood First Policy.'
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Motivational speaker Sonu Sharma slams govt, Supreme Court over Aravalli Hills order
Says If Aravalli falls, our future falls
New Delhi: Motivational speaker and life coach Sonu Sharma has strongly criticised the Narendra Modi-led central government and the Supreme Court over recent developments related to the Aravalli Hills, warning that the decisions could have long-term consequences for North India’s environment and air quality.
In a video posted on social media, Sharma questioned the logic behind treating parts of the Aravalli range measuring less than 100 metres in height as non-mountains, a position that has emerged from recent legal interpretations. Without naming specific judgments, Sharma said such reasoning effectively strips large portions of the ancient mountain range of legal protection and opens the door for large-scale mining.
The Aravalli range, considered one of the oldest mountain systems in the world, plays a crucial role in checking desertification, regulating climate and acting as a natural barrier against dust storms from the Thar desert. Environmentalists have long warned that continued degradation of the Aravallis could worsen air pollution in cities such as Delhi and accelerate ecological damage across Rajasthan, Haryana and the National Capital Region.
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In the video, Sharma argued that redefining mountains based on arbitrary height criteria amounts to legitimising environmental destruction. He compared it to denying basic human identity based on physical attributes, calling the approach illogical and dangerous. He claimed that in Rajasthan alone, nearly 12,000 peaks are part of the Aravalli system, and that only around 1,000 of them exceed 100 metres, leaving the vast majority vulnerable to legal mining activity.
Sharma also took aim at a televised statement by senior news anchor Rajat Sharma, who had said that Delhi’s pollution gets trapped because the city is shaped like a bowl surrounded by the Aravalli Hills. Sharma rejected the argument that the Aravallis are responsible for pollution, instead describing them as the “lungs of North India” whose destruction is aggravating the crisis.
Without directly naming the court, Sharma said institutions were issuing orders without understanding environmental realities. His remarks have been widely interpreted as a criticism of the Supreme Court’s recent stance on the Aravalli Hills, which has drawn concern from environmental groups who fear it may weaken safeguards against mining.
The video has gained significant traction online, given Sharma’s large following of over five million followers on Instagram and more than 13 million subscribers on YouTube. Many users echoed his concerns, saying unchecked mining and construction in the Aravallis would worsen water scarcity, air pollution and desertification.
Sharma ended his message with a call to protect the Aravalli range, warning that continued neglect would have irreversible consequences. “If the Aravalli falls, our future will also fall,” he said, urging citizens to speak up against policies and orders that, in his view, prioritise development over environmental survival.
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