Male/New Delhi, Sep 10 (UNI) Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu is scheduled to visit India “very soon”, the President’s office has disclosed.
Spokesperson of the President Heena Waleed said during a press conference on Tuesday that the dates for the President’s upcoming visit to India are currently being discussed, sun.mv reported.
“President is scheduled to make a visit to India very soon. As you are aware, such trips are scheduled for a time of maximum convenience to leaders of the two countries. Discussions regarding this are in progress,” she said.
Maldivian leaders have traditionally chosen neighbouring 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.
While he visited New Delhi on June 9 to attend Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s inauguration for a third term in office, he has yet to make a state visit to New Delhi.
However, there have 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.
President Muizzu, who was at the forefront of the ‘India Out!’ campaign led by the then-opposition Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and People’s National Congress (PNC) coalition against India, has been working to maintain close ties with India since assuming office as the eighth president of Maldives.
Meanwhile, Mariyam Shiuna and Malsha Shareef, who were suspended in January as deputy ministers under accusations of slandering Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have resigned.
Shiuna, Malsha and Abdul Mahzoom Majidh were suspended for criticizing the Prime Minister of India. They were deputy ministers at the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Information and Art.
Among the three, Malsha and Shiuna have resigned.
RaajjeMV’s attempts to contact Mahzoom to clarify whether he has resigned as well or not, were to no avail as he failed to answer the station’s calls.
The deputy ministers were suspended on January 7 this year, in connection with derogatory comments directed at India’s PM, on social media.
Their slander churned a major campaign to boycott the Maldives, resulting in mounting public concern and significant pressure on the government.
The situation unfolded after India’s PM Modi’s visit to and promotion of Lakshadweep, after which Indian social media activists began a campaign titled “Boycott Maldives”, labeling Maldives as a “pro-China” country and flooded social media with appeals not to visit the island nation, which relies heavily on the tourism industry as a major source of revenue.
UNI RN