After Indian soldiers left, Maldives military has no pilots to fly 3 aircraft India gave

Days after 76 Indian defense personnel left the island nation at the request of Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu, Defense Minister Ghassan Maumoon confessed that the Maldives military still lacked pilots qualified to fly three aircraft given by India.

In order to inform the media about the departure of Indian soldiers stationed in the Maldives to operate two helicopters and a Dornier aircraft and their replacement by Indian civilians, Ghassan made the comments during a news conference held at the President’s Office here on Saturday.

In response to a query from a journalist, Ghassan stated that although some soldiers in the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) had started flying training, none of the three aircraft supplied by the Indian military were operated by Maldivian soldiers.

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“As it was a training that required passing various stages, our soldiers had not reached completion due to various reasons. Therefore, there aren’t any people in our force at the moment who are licensed or fully operational to fly the two helicopters and Dornier aircraft,” Ghassan was quoted as saying by Adhadhu.com news portal.

Muizzu, a pro-China politician, demanded that all Indian military personnel operating the three aviation sites in the island nation leave by May 10. This put a significant strain on relations between the two countries. India has already taken out 76 armed forces members.

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Nonetheless, a Maldivian media source stated that the Maldives government had no plans to remove the Indian doctors working at Senahiya Military Hospital.

In contrast to Ghassan’s statements, key officials of the new administration criticized the previous government during the preceding five years of opposition and asserted that the MNDF had competent pilots.

The primary purpose of the helicopters supplied by former presidents Mohamed Nasheed and Abdulla Yameen and the Dornier planes sent by former president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih was to train Maldivians, the statement stated.

Foreign Minister Zameer stated on Saturday that training provisions for local pilots were included in the deal to replace the Indian army with civilians, despite the fact that the training has not been completed to date.