Maldives not to renew agreement with India for hydrographic surveys

News Snapshot:

: Maldives will not renew an agreement with India to conduct hydrographic surveys and plans to acquire the facilities and machines required to do the exercise by itself, President Mohamed Muizzu has announced.Muizzu also announced that his country is working to establish a 24X7 monitoring system for the Maldivian waters this month to ensure control of its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) despite its significantly large area.The development comes days after China signed a defence cooperation agreement with the Maldives to provide free military assistance to foster "stronger" bilateral ties.India-Maldives ties have suffered a setback ever since pro-China Muizzu assumed office...