President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has said that the Maldivian military will soon be capable to guaranteeing the protection of the Maldives Exclusive Economic Zone ceaselessly around the clock.
The President made these remarks in his first Presidential Address at the parliament this morning.
The President said that he believes the Maldivian military needs efforts to further strengthen modern military capability so as to protect the Maldives via land, air or sea.
"God willing, we have commenced efforts to achieve this. The Maldivian National Defence Force will, god willing, soon possess the capability to monitor and protect the 900,000 kilometers of the Maldives' Exclusive Economic Zone ceaselessly, 24 hours," he said.
The President went on to mention different efforts that leaders in history had undertaken in efforts to strengthen the military. The President stated that every strong leader like the national hero Bodu Thakurufaanu, Dhon Bandaarain, Bodu Rasgefaanu and Iskandhar Mahaaradhun had all paid special attention to strengthening the military forces.
"During the reign of Bodu Rasgefaanu, in order to protect the country from the attacks from Malabars and Kannanur Ali Raja, they built gunposts in Male' and they brought 14 red brass guns from Indonesia, as told to us by our history. For those times, that was strong defence equipment," he said.
The issue of protecting the country's EEZ has come up due to recent incursions to the Maldives' ocean territories by Indian Coastguard, who proceeded to board and conduct searches of local fishing vessels. Despite an official request for explanations, the Indian government has not yet responded.
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