First couple departs on state visit to India

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu and First Lady Sajidha Mohamed, accompanied by a high-level government delegation, have departed on a state visit to neighboring India.

The visit is being undertaken at the invitation of India’s President Droupadi Murmu.

During the visit, President Muizzu will hold high-level meetings with President Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and other senior officials of the Indian government.

The President is set to conclude the visit on Thursday, October 10^th.

This marks his first state visit to India since assuming office in November.

Maldivian leaders have traditionally chosen neighboring India, the country’s closest bilateral partner, for their first official visit. However, unlike his predecessors, President Muizzu, who assumed office in November last year, made his first official visit to Türkiye. His first state visit was to China.

Relations between Male’ and New Delhi had been strained in the early days of President Muizzu’s presidency after he demanded that India withdraw its troops from Maldives – executing a pledge he made during his presidential campaign. Things escalated further after three Maldivian deputy ministers made disparaging remarks regarding India and Indian Prime Minister Modi on the social media platform X.

Maldives Foreign Ministry was quick to distance itself from the remarks, saying that they do not represent the views of the Male’ government. The three deputy ministers were suspended, and two of them – Mariyam Shiuna and Malsha Shareef who have since resigned from their posts.

Notably, President Muizzu met Prime Minister Modi on the sidelines of the COP28 summit in Dubai back in December and also attended the inauguration ceremony of Prime Minister Modi for a third term and the Council of Ministers at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi in June.

There have also been official visits between the two countries by other top government officials, including Maldivian Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer and Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar.

With tensions gradually dissipating, India has recently postponed the repayment of two loans.