Close ties with neighbours are of great value: MEA Jaishankar to Maldivian counterpart

Ministry of external affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal confirmed later in the day that the process of appointing “competent Indian technical personnel” to keep running these aviation platforms, which are crucial for evacuation and other humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) activities, has been completed. After some intense diplomatic negotiations, India had acquiesced to the replacement of military personnel with civilian staff.