The head teacher took over this responsibility and persuaded the locals to build a school building worth Rs 5-6 lakh.

India has begun withdrawing military personnel operating surveillance aircraft in the Maldives after the new pro-China president ordered them to leave, local media reported Tuesday.

The Mihaaru newspaper reported that 25 Indian troops deployed in the southernmost atoll of Addu had left the archipelago ahead of March 10, the official start of the withdrawal agreed by both sides.

President Mohamed Muizzu came to power in September on a pledge to kick out Indian security personnel deployed in the Maldives to patrol its vast maritime border.

Following talks with New Delhi, the two sides had agreed to complete a withdrawal of 89 Indian troops and their support staff from the nation of 1,192 tiny coral islands by May 10.

Mihaaru said the three Indian aircraft — two helicopters and one fixed-wing plane — will be operated by Indian civilian staff, who have already arrived.

There was no official confirmation from either the Maldivian or Indian authorities, but Mihaaru said the Maldivian National Defence Force confirmed the Indian withdrawal had begun.

Last week, the Maldives signed a “military assistance” deal with China as the Indians prepared to leave.

The Maldivian defence ministry said the deal was to foster “stronger bilateral ties” and that China would train its staff under the pact.

India is suspicious of China’s growing presence in the Indian Ocean and its influence in the Maldives as well as in neighbouring Sri Lanka.

Both South Asian island nations are strategically placed halfway along key east-west international shipping routes.

Relations between Male and New Delhi have chilled since Muizzu won elections in September.

New Delhi considers the Indian Ocean archipelago to be within its sphere of influence, but the Maldives has shifted into the orbit of China — its largest external creditor.

Muizzu, who visited Beijing in January where he signed a raft of infrastructure, energy, marine and agricultural deals, has previously denied seeking to redraw the regional balance by bringing in Chinese forces to replace Indian troops.

India last month said it was bolstering its naval forces on its “strategically important” Lakshadweep islands, about 130 kilometres (80 miles) north of the Maldives.

The Indian naval unit based on the island of Minicoy will boost “operational surveillance” of the area, the navy said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A day after the Centre notified implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) rules, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) today approached the Supreme Court to challenge the move. The party, primarily based in Kerala, has sought a pause on the implementation of the law, calling it “unconstitutional” and “discriminatory” against the Muslim community.

The Citizenship Amendment Act, passed in 2019, enables non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan fleeing religious persecution to seek Indian citizenship. Persons from Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian communities from these countries, who entered India on or before December 31, 2014, can seek citizenship under CAA.

The IUML was among the first to challenge the law in 2019. Its petition contends that not including Muslims in the list of those eligible for citizenship violates the right to equality under Article 14 of the Constitution.

Earlier, IUML had sought a pause on the implementation of the Act, but the Centre had then told the court that the law will not come into force because the rules had not been notified yet.

The petition has said that the implementation of CAA rules must be paused till the Supreme Court rules on 250 pending petitions against the Constitutional validity of the Act. The preamble of the Constitution envisages that India is a secular country and, therefore, any law passed has to be religion-neutral, the petition says.

The Centre’s announcement last evening prompted celebrations, as well as protests, in several parts of the country. Members of the Matua community in Bengal and Sindhi refugees living in Bhopal held celebrations after the announcement. In some other areas, however, the public mood was different. Protests erupted in Assam, which has been protesting against the new citizenship rules on the ground that it will lead to large-scale migration into the border state. In other areas of the country, protesters alleged that the law is discriminatory against the Muslim community.

The Opposition has targeted the ruling BJP over the timing of the Act’s implementation: weeks before the Lok Sabha polls.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged that the BJP aims to polarise voters in Assam and West Bengal.

“It took them 4 years and 3 months to bring this rule. The Bill was passed in December 2019. The law should have been formed within 3-6 months. Modi Government sought nine extensions from the Supreme Court and took 4 years and 3 months before notifying the rules last night,” Mr Ramesh said in a post on X.

“These are just for polarisation – to influence the elections in Bengal and Assam. If they were doing it honestly, why did they not bring it in 2020? They are bringing it now, one month before the elections. This is the strategy for social polarisation,” he added.