2024-05-13 18:29:27
Male: Maldives Defense Minister Ghassan Maumoon has said that the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) still does not have pilots capable of flying the three aircraft donated by India. Ghassan made the remarks at a press conference held at the President’s Office yesterday to brief the media about the return of 76 Indian soldiers deployed in Maldives for air operations and their replacement by Indian nationals. This is being seen as the biggest failure of the Maldivian Army. In such a situation, the operation of helicopters and Dorniers received by Maldives from India has been eclipsed.
What did the Defense Minister of Maldives say
Responding to a journalist’s question, Ghassan said Maldives did not have any pilots with the capability to operate Indian aircraft. He also said that some pilots had started being trained to fly the Dornier and the two helicopters under agreements made by previous governments. He said, “Since it was a training that required passing various stages, our soldiers were not able to complete it due to various reasons. Therefore, at present there is no one in our army who has the knowledge of helicopter platforms and Dornier. Be licensed to fly or be fully operational.
Muijju’s party’s lie caught
In contrast to Ghassan’s comments, when senior leaders of the Muizzu government were in opposition during the last five years, he had criticized the previous government and claimed that there were capable pilots in the MNDF. The main reason for Indian troops coming to Maldives was for training using helicopters donated during the governments of former Presidents Mohammed Nasheed and Abdulla Yameen and Dornier aircraft brought in during the government of former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
There is no training agreement with India
Despite the failure to complete training to date, Foreign Minister Musa Zamir yesterday said the agreement to replace Indian troops with civilians also includes provisions for training local pilots. In such a situation, it is clear that the helicopters and Dornier received from India will be flown by Indian pilots only, even if they are commanded by the Maldivian Army.