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China has signed a defence deal with the Maldives to provide free military aid to foster “stronger” bilateral ties. The move comes just weeks after Maldivian president ordered Indian troops to leave the strategically-placed archipelago.On March 4, Maldives defence minister met a top Chinese defence official to discuss enhancing defence ties between the two countries. The two countries signed a pact “on China’s provision of military assistance gratis to Maldives.” The Maldivian defence ministry said the deal was to foster “stronger bilateral ties”, in a post on social media.The deal also comes after President Muizzu’s visit to Beijing in January where he signed a raft of deals. Chinese foreign ministry said that Beijing was doing “its utmost to jointly build a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership” with the archipelago.
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