This will be Muizzu’s first bilateral visit to India, though he came to New Delhi in June to attend Modi’s swearing-in ceremony.
Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu will visit India from October 6-10 to hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with the external affairs ministry saying on Friday the trip is expected to give momentum to bilateral cooperation and ties.
The trip has been given the status of a state visit, signalling New Delhi’s intention to reset bilateral ties after an acrimonious period in the relationship, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity. This will be Muizzu’s first bilateral visit to India, though he came to New Delhi in June to attend Modi’s swearing-in ceremony along with leaders of six other regional countries.
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Muizzu, who became president in November 2023 on the back of an ‘India Out’ campaign, took steps to reduce the Maldives’ dependence on India and demanded the removal of some 85 Indian military personnel deployed in the Indian Ocean archipelago to operate three aircraft. These measures took bilateral ties to a fresh low at the end of last year.
However, there have been signs of a thaw in the relationship in recent months. Maldivian foreign minister Moosa Zameer visited India in May and this was followed by a trip to Maldives by external affairs minister S Jaishankar in August. In September, New Delhi helped Male avoid the risk of defaulting on Islamic bond payments by extending its subscription to government treasury bills worth $50 million for another year.
“The visit of President Muizzu to India after the recent visit of the external affairs minister to Maldives is testimony to the importance that India attaches to its relations with the Maldives and is expected to lend further momentum to cooperation and robust people-to-people ties between the two countries,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a media briefing.
Jaiswal described the Maldives as India’s “key maritime neighbour” in the Indian Ocean and said it holds a special place in the SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) vision and India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy.
A statement from Muizzu’s office in Male said his discussions in India will “focus on strengthening bilateral cooperation and further enhancing the longstanding relationship between the two nations”. Muizzu is committed to “enhancing bilateral ties with nations that play a crucial role in the development and growth of the Maldives, ensuring a dynamic and proactive foreign policy for the nation”, the statement said.
Besides holding talks with Modi on bilateral, regional and international issues, Muizzu will meet President Droupadi Murmu. He will travel to Mumbai and Bengaluru to attend business events. Muizzu will also interact with a sizeable Maldivian diaspora in Bengaluru.
Muizzu, known for his pro-China leanings, too has dialled down the rhetoric against India in recent weeks. While visiting the US to attend the United Nations General Assembly last month, he said during an interaction at Princeton University that the Maldives only had a problem with the presence of foreign military personnel on its soil and wasn’t against any country.
“We have never been against any one country at any point. It’s not ‘India Out’. The Maldives faced a serious problem with foreign military presence on its soil,” he said. “The people of the Maldives do not want a single foreign soldier in the country.”
Muizzu said he had taken action against ministers for making remarks on social media that were perceived as insulting to Modi. “No one should say such a thing. I took action against it. I will not accept insulting anyone like that, whether he is a leader or an ordinary person,” he said.
Last month, two junior ministers, who were suspended in January for derogatory comments against Modi, resigned from the government on the same day that Muizzu’s spokesperson announced he would visit India “very soon”.
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