An Indian ship carrying a new helicopter will arrive in the Maldives on Wednesday to replace the old helicopter in Seenu Gan (Addu city), the Defence Minister has said.
Defence Ministry said test flights of the old helicopter will be conducted starting Tuesday before being returned to India for repairs.
"Test flights of the helicopter stationed in Seenu Gan will be carried out starting February 27, 2024, before returning it to India for repairs. The ship carrying the new helicopter will arrive directly in Addu on February 28, 2024," the statement read.
The ministry also revealed that a group of Indian civilians arrived in the Maldives on Monday evening to replace the Indian military personnel stationed in the country.
However, the government did not disclose the number of Indian civilians that will be operating the helicopters.
"The civilian crew who will operate the helicopter in place of the Indian troops currently stationed in Seenu Gan (Addu city) has arrived in Maldives this evening," the ministry said.
President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu requested India to withdraw 89 military personnel stationed in the Maldives to operate the aircraft. India has agreed to the request and the military personnel will be replaced by May 10.
After several rounds of talks, both countries agreed to replace the military personnel with civilians and to continue the operations of the aircraft. The first group of Indian military personnel will leave the Maldives before March 10.
