Mending ties: Maldives President Muizzu to visit India from Oct 7-10 on first standalone bilateral tour

Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu will be on a 4-day India visit starting October 7. This will be his first standalone bilateral visit since assuming office last year.

During his India visit, from October 7 to 10, Muizzu will also be travelling to Mumbai and Bengaluru where he will be attending business events.

“The visit of the President of Maldives to India after the recent visit of the External Affairs Minister (S Jaishankar) to Maldives is testimony to the importance that India attaches to its relations with Maldives,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Friday.

Jaiswal further said that Muizzu’s visit is expected to lend further momentum to cooperation and robust people-to-people ties between the two countries.

#WATCH | MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal says, "President of the Republic of Maldives Mohamed Muizzu will be travelling to India on a state visit from 7th to 10th October 2024. This will be his first bilateral visit to India. He had earlier visited India, in June 2024 to attend… pic.twitter.com/SwydGCxfeO

— ANI (@ANI) October 4, 2024

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A report by The Indian Express quoted sources as saying that Muizzu is expected to hold bilateral talks with PM Modi on October 7.

EAM Jaishankar’s Maldives visit in August was the first high-level trip from India after Muizzu, known for his pro-China leanings, assumed office in November last year.

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Muizzu had earlier travelled to India in June this year for the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his council of ministers.

Why is Muizzu’s India visit crucial?

Muizzu’s visit is significant as India-Maldives bilateral ties witnessed a new low soon after he assumed office last year on the plank of his ‘India Out’ campaign.

After taking charge in November 2023, Muizzu requested India to withdraw its military personnel and replace them with civilians.

Also, unlike his predecessors, who made the first port of call to New Delhi after assuming office, Muizzu travelled to Turkey and then to China for his first state visit in January.

He only visited India on June 9 to attend PM Modi’s swearing-in ceremony.

Earlier this year, Maldives Deputy Youth Ministers Malsha Shareef and Mariyam Shiuna had called PM Modi names in posts on social media, intensifying a diplomatic row between both nations. They both were on suspension following the incident but resigned later.

However, the stage for Muizzu’s visit to India was set on September 27 when he condemned the mocking of PM Modi by two of his former ministers and also denied pursuing any anti-India agenda.

During his visit to the US for the 79th United Nations General Assembly, Muizzu had said that his deputy ministers were wrong to insult PM 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. Every human being has a reputation,” the Maldives President had said.

On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Muizzu had also said that he plans to visit India “as soon as possible”.

“I am planning to visit (India) as soon as possible…We have a very strong bilateral relationship,” he had said.

Muizzu, earlier this year, also thanked India for its support in easing the Maldives’ debt repayment and expressed hopes for stronger ties, including a potential free trade agreement.

Meanwhile, India recently extended budgetary support to the Maldives government by rolling over the $50 million Treasury Bill for another year at the request of Muizzu-led government.

For the unversed, Maldives is India’s key maritime neighbor in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and holds a special place in Prime Minister’s vision of ‘SAGAR’ (Security and Growth for All in the Region) and India’s ‘Neighbourhood First Policy’.