India on Thursday underscored the assistance provided by its military personnel stationed in the Maldives, including medical evacuations, amid the prospect of the incoming government of President-elect Mohamed Muizzu asking India’s military contingent to leave the archipelago in keeping with an election promise.

"India Out" was the clarion call of Muizzu’s campaign against the outgoing government of Ibrahim Solih, which was perceived as pro-India.

In his victory speech, Muizzu had said that removing Indian military presence from the Maldives would be the first order of business for him once he assumed office in mid-November.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi was on Thursday asked for a response to what the Maldivian President-elect has been saying on the subject since then, including in an interview to Al-Jazeera.

Bagchi said that India looked forward to constructively engaging with the incoming administration and discussing ways to enhance the relationship further.

He also underlined that the bilateral cooperation with the Maldives was based on jointly addressing shared challenges and priorities.

"The assistance and platforms that we have provided have contributed significantly in areas like people’s welfare, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief and combating illegal maritime activities,” Bagchi said.

“Over the last five years, more than 500 medical evacuations have been carried out by our personnel, saving 523 Maldivian lives. In the same period, more than 450 multi-faceted missions have been carried out to safeguard the maritime security of Maldives. India has also been first responder for Maldives in any disaster scenario, including most recently during Covid."

India maintains a military presence in the Maldives to operate the Dornier aircraft and two helicopters gifted to Male in 2020 and 2013, respectively.

In November 2021, the Maldives National Defence Force had informed the parliamentary committee on security services that 75 Indian military personnel were stationed in the Maldives to operate the Dornier and the choppers.

Muizzu will not be the first Maldivian President to try to get the Indian contingent out. The Solih administration’s predecessor, the Yameen government, too had sent repeated requests to India to withdraw the military but the contingent remained in the Maldives.