Maldives President Muizzu on first bilateral visit to India from Oct 6-10

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that this will be President Muizzu’s first bilateral visit to India. He had earlier visited India in June 2024 to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers.

During his visit, Muizzu will meet President Draupadi Murmu and hold discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest, the MEA said.

Muizzu will also visit Mumbai and Bengaluru where he will attend business events, as reported by The Indian Express.

The MEA said 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’”.

“The visit of President Dr 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,” it said.

Setting the stage for his visit, Muizzu, on September 27, had condemned the mocking of Modi by two of his former deputy ministers, and also denied pursuing an anti-India agenda.

Softening public criticism against India, Muizzu had said the deputy ministers were wrong to insult Modi. He made the remarks during a visit to the US for the UN General Assembly.

“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 had said.

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

On the issue of pursuing an anti-India agenda, Muizzu had said: “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.”

Early this year, after his bilateral visit to China, Muizzu did, however, target India by calling it a bully without naming it. “We might be a small country, but that does not give you the licence to bully us,” he had said.

His visit is significant since India and Maldives witnessed a slide in their bilateral ties after Muizzu assumed office last year on the plank of his ‘India Out’ campaign. Soon after coming to power in November 2023, Muizzu had requested India to withdraw its military personnel.

The two countries then agreed that India would pull out 80-odd military personnel stationed in the Maldives between March 10 and May 10. The Ministry of External Affairs had said that the two helicopters and a Dornier aircraft in the Maldives would be operated by “competent Indian technical personnel” who would replace the “present personnel”.

After the replacement of personnel was completed, Maldives Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer visited Delhi in May this year. A month later, Muizzu attended Modi’s swearing-in ceremony. And, in August, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar went to Male to discuss all areas of bilateral cooperation.