NEW DELHI: Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu will travel to India from October 6-10 on a state visit, ministry of external affairs (MEA) said on Friday.
“President of the Republic of Maldives Mohamed Muizzu will be travelling to India on a state visit. This will be his first bilateral visit to India. He had earlier visited India, in June 2024 to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the PM and council of ministers.During his visit, he will also be in Bengaluru and Mumbai where he will have business engagements,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during the weekly press briefing.
During his visit to India, President Muizzu will meet President Droupadi Murmu and hold discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on “bilateral, regional, and international issues of mutual interest,” MEA said in a press release.
This will be President Muizzu’s second visit to India this year, following the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June.
It is notable that while previous Maldivian presidents typically made their first foreign visit to India, President Mohamed Muizzu broke with tradition by choosing to visit Turkey and China first after taking office.
Since assuming power, Muizzu has taken several unconventional steps in the context of India-Maldives relations. His presidential campaign was heavily centered around the ‘India Out’ movement, with a key promise being the removal of Indian military personnel from the Maldives.
Within hours after taking oath as Maldivian president in November 2023, Muizzu demanded that India replace the defence personnel it had stationed in the Maldives with civilians.
Following a diplomatic row in January, when three Maldivian deputy ministers made derogatory comments about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Lakshadweep when he had called for the Indian island cluster to be developed as a destination for beach tourism and promotion of domestic tourism, the Maldivian government recently adopted a conciliatory tone. The issue escalated into a major diplomatic dispute, with New Delhi summoning the Maldivian envoy and strongly protesting the viral posts. The three deputy ministers were later suspended.
Since January, the Muizzu-led government has made many efforts to restore the relationship, including several high-level visits, such as the President himself attending Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony and the Maldivian foreign minister’s visit to India.