New Delhi: Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu, accompanied by a high-level Maldivian delegation, arrived in New Delhi on Sunday morning to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi. Muzzu was received by the Ministry of External Affairs Secretary (West) Pravan Kapoor at the airport. At the airport, he was greeted warmly with a cultural dance.
Earlier, Maldivian officials in Male confirmed that Muizzu along with the country's foreign minister and a couple of other leaders would be travelling to New Delhi to attend the ceremony. Notabky, this is Muizzu's first visit to India as the island nation's president.
Modi is all set to take charge as the prime minister for a historic third consecutive term with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) winning 293 seats in the Lok Sabha polls.
The guest list of foreign leaders for Modi's swearing-in ceremony was primarily guided by New Delhi's "Neighbourhood First Policy" and its strategic focus on island nations considered important in the Indian Ocean region, it is learnt.
India-Maldives relations
The invitation to Muizzu assumes significance as it came amid frosty ties between the two countries.
The ties between India and the Maldives came under severe strain since November last year when Muizzu, known for his pro-China leanings, took charge as Maldivian president. Within hours of his oath, he had demanded the withdrawal of Indian military personnel from his country. The Indian military personnel were replaced by civilians earlier this month.
The leaders of regional grouping SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) countries attended Modi's first swearing ceremony when he took the reins as the prime minister after a massive electoral victory for BJP. Leaders of the BIMSTEC countries attended Modi's swearing-in ceremony, in 2019 when he became prime minister for the second consecutive term.
Though the BJP could not get a majority on its own in the polls, the party-led alliance secured 293 seats out of 543. The majority mark in the lower house is 272.
Also Read: 'Would be honoured': Maldives President Muizzu on attending PM Modi's swearing-in ceremony
