Chief of Defence Force, Abdulla Shamaal has said that there are no foreign armed forces currently operating in the Maldives.

A press conference by the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) today, Shamaal said that foreign military personnel are in the country to provide humanitarian aid.

He said that there is no armed foreign military presence in the country but there are personnel in a technical and humanitarian role. Shamaal said that MNDF has always worked as such with other countries.

The Chief of Defence Force said that MNDF has worked with the military of other countries on joint training exercises, official visits and humanitarian projects among others.

Speaking at the press conference, the Director General of the National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC), Brigadier General, Zakariyya Mansoor said that relationships are built with different countries to improve the capabilities of the MNDF.

The MNDF has said that there are no foreign armed forced in the Maldives after the opposition parties alleged that there are Indian armed forces operating in the Maldives and accused the government of trying to sell the country to India.