New Delhi: Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu on Saturday, August 10, reaffirmed his commitment to “strengthening historic” ties with India, calling the country “one of our closest allies and invaluable partners.”
He made these comments during a ceremony for the handover of water supply and sewerage facilities on 28 islands in the Maldives, a project funded through the Indian government’s Line of Credit facility. The event was attended by Indian external affairs minister S Jaishankar, marking the first visit by a senior Indian minister to the Maldives since Muizzu took office last November.
The visit suggested that relations might have stabilised after the turbulence experienced during the initial months of the Muizzu administration.
Soon after taking office, the Maldivian president requested that India withdraw its military personnel stationed in the archipelago to operate three aircraft for search and rescue missions. Following discussions, India replaced the uniformed personnel with civilians from a public sector company.
Meanwhile, the Maldivian President made one of his first bilateral foreign visits to China. His government also informed India that it would not renew the hydrography agreement between the two countries.
Additionally, there was also a social media-led boycott by Indian influencers of Maldives as a tourist destination after three junior ministers made insulting posts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. All three were suspended.
However, a sense of ‘normalcy’ began to return to relations, as evidenced by Maldivian foreign minister Moosa Zameer’s visit to India and, more notably, President Muizzu’s participation in Modi’s third oath-taking ceremony, following an invitation from New Delhi.
“I give you my assurance that my administration will extend complete cooperation towards further strengthening the historical ties between our nations and take it to new heights,” Muizzu said at the ceremony on Saturday.
According to the press note from President’s office, Muizzu said that has always been one of the closest allies and invaluable partners, facilitating and providing aid whenever the Maldives has needed it.
Noting that the initiatives would provide significant economic benefits, he added that these projects are key milestones in the Maldives’ bilateral relations with India.
The President also emphasized that the High Impact Community Development Projects under Indian Grant Assistance demonstrate both countries’ close engagement in socio-economic development.
The President concluded his speech by emphasizing that centuries of friendship, mutual respect, and a strong sense of kinship have nourished the relations between the Maldives and India. He further stated that Maldivians value the deep and historic ties with the Indian people and are committed to its preservation and enhancement.
He also expressed optimism, saying he anticipates seeing Maldives-India cooperation prosper and develop in the coming years.
After his arrival in Maldives on Friday, Jaishankar has already held talks with his counterpart, Moosa Zameer and witnessed the signing of various agreements, including for introduction of digital payments.
After the meeting with the visiting Indian minister, Maldivian defence minister Ghassan Maumoon tweeted that they “explored areas of future collaboration in safeguarding Indian Ocean peace and stability”. He also added that both “affirmed mutual respect for one another’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
