Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu in India from Oct 6-10. Here’s what to expect

Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu will be in India from October 6 to 10 on a state visit. This is his first bilateral trip to the country, months after he came to New Delhi to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony in June.

Last month, the Maldivian president’s spokesperson told local media that Muizzu’s official visit to India will be “very soon”. The trip is another signal of a thaw in India-Maldives relations after a slide since Muizzu assumed office last year, winning the elections on an “India out” campaign.

What to expect from Mohamed Muizzu’s India visit? Let’s take a look.

Muizzu’s India visit

Muizzu will hold talks with PM Modi reportedly on Monday (October 7), after arriving in India a day back. As per the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the two leaders will discuss bilateral, regional, and international issues of mutual interest.

The Maldives’ leader will also call upon President Droupadi Murmu.

He is also slated to visit Mumbai and Bengaluru for business events. In the Karnataka capital, Muizzu will interact with a significant Maldivian diaspora, as per the Hindustan Times (HT) report.

The MEA said in a statement that the Maldives is India’s “key maritime neighbour 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’”.

“President of the Republic of Maldives, H.E. Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, will be travelling to India on a State visit on 6-10 October, 2024. This will be the first bilateral visit of President Dr. Muizzu to India. He had earlier visited India in June 2024 to attend the swearing-in… pic.twitter.com/GXh6BEFbpA

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 4, 2024

A statement from Muizzu’s office said the talks during the president’s trip will “focus on strengthening bilateral cooperation and further enhancing the longstanding relationship between the two nations”, reported HT. 

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”, it added.

Why India-Maldives ties plunged

The ties between the two countries took a blow after Muizzu assumed power last November. Soon, he asked India to withdraw its military personnel.

His campaign promise was to remove Indian military personnel from the Maldives.

The presence of these troops had emerged as a big bone of contention between the Muizzu-led Maldivian government and New Delhi.

India withdrew its over 80 military personnel from the island country before the May 10 deadline. The Indian troops operated and maintained two helicopters and Dornier aircraft gifted previously by India to the Maldives.

The MEA said that these helicopters and the aircraft would be operated by “competent Indian technical personnel” who would replace the “present personnel”, as per Indian Express.

Besides the issue of Indian troops, India’s ties with the Maldives were hit after some Maldivian ministers made derogatory remarks about PM Modi in response to his promotion of the
Lakshadweep islands. The Muizzu government tried to salvage the situation by suspending the two junior ministers, but the damage was done.

The comments by Malsha Shareef and Mariyam Shiuna in the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Information and Arts and fellow minister Abdulla Mahzoom Majid created a huge uproar in India, with social media users launching a ‘Boycott Maldives’ campaign. Some Indian celebrities also started promoting local tourism.

The incident triggered a diplomatic row between the two countries.

The Maldives saw a sharp decline in Indian tourists in the wake of the controversy. India is one of the biggest sources of tourism for the Indian Ocean country, whose economy relies heavily on the sector.

After returning from his five-day visit to China, Muizzu, without naming India, said earlier this year that the Maldives “may be a small island nation, but that does not allow others to bully” it.

After a dip, a boost in relations

The relations between New Delhi and Malé have been on the mend in recent months.

Muizzu, who is seen as a pro-China leader, has dialled down his anti-India rhetoric ahead of his state visit.

During an interaction at the US’ Princeton University last month, the Maldivian president said that Male was not against any country. “We have never been against any one country at any point. It’s not ‘India Out’. Maldives faced a serious problem with foreign military presence on its soil. The people of Maldives do not want a single foreign soldier in the country,” he said.

Muizzu also said his government took action against the ministers who insulted 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,” he said.

His remarks came during his visit to the US for the United Nations General Assembly.

Ahead of Muizzu’s India visit, Shareef and Shiuna, the two junior ministers who made disparaging remarks against PM Modi, resigned.

Sources told HT on condition of anonymity that Muizzu’s trip to India has been accorded the status of a state visit, indicating New Delhi’s intention to reset bilateral ties.

According to the MEA, the visit is a “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.”

In August, EAM Dr
S Jaishankar visited the Maldives and held bilateral talks with his counterpart. He had also met President Muizzu. Before him, Maldivian foreign minister Moosa Zameer had visited India in May.

“Maldives is one of the cornerstones of our ‘Neighborhood First’ policy. To quote PM Modi -For India neighbourhood is a priority and in the neighbourhood Maldives is a priority. We also share the closest bonds of history and kinship,” Jaishankar said during his trip to Male.

In September, New Delhi lent enough funds to the Maldives to avoid the risk of defaulting on Islamic bond payments.

The two countries are also negotiating a $400-million currency swap agreement. The agenda of Muizzu’s trip could include boosting tourism in the Maldives. The island nation has already been making efforts to woo Indian tourists through its ‘Welcome India’ campaign, a far cry from ‘India Out’.

With inputs from agencies