India will remove its troops in the Maldives by May, the Maldivian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday, as the two countries seek agreement on a pullout that has strained ties.
The roughly 80 soldiers stationed in the Indian Ocean archipelago will be replaced by civilians, officials from both countries said.
As global powers jostle for influence in the Indo-Pacific region, India and China have wooed the Maldives, which has traditionally been close to neighbour India.—Reuters
