On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Male to meet Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu, and this visit was seen as a major step in resetting bilateral relations that had soured over the 2023 election campaign of Muizzu when the India Out campaign was at its peak. The two-day trip to the island country is the immediate follow-up to his high-profile visit to the United Kingdom, and it shows the increased interest of India in bolstering regional diplomacy in the Indian Ocean.
Modi, upon arrival, kicked off his tour, becoming the first foreign leader to visit President Muizzu after taking up office. The formal discussions between the two leaders were aimed at restoring the trust and mapping out a new direction in the relations that had started to cool following Muizzu’s statement that it was abandoning its traditional foreign policy of giving India first priority, even as it intensified relations with China.
In the course of the talks, India will offer the Maldives a development line of credit worth up to US$565 million to be used in upgrading its infrastructure, among other development projects. One of the main highlights of the tour will be a distant opening of the Hanimadhoo International Airport extension done by Modi, as the airport has been funded through Indian aid. There is also the announcement to start the discussions on the possible Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to enhance economic and trading relations between the two countries.
The itinerary of Modi also contains attending events to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the independence of the Maldives from Britain on Saturday, which seeks to represent that India upholds the sovereignty of the people in the Maldives and builds people-to-people contact.
The meeting is one of the biggest moments in Indian-Maldives relationships, as it indicates the shared willingness to leave the recently arisen tensions behind and instead concentrate on the common regional security and development objectives. Analysts describe this visit as a possible point of departure that would see India regain strategic control in the Maldives amid emerging tension with China.
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