The government, however, is yet to take a call on who is going to represent India at the swearing in ceremony of a leader who is considered pro-China, although people close to him have denied that Muizzu’s foreign policy will reflect any China bias.
PM Narendra Modi was the only head of government to have travelled to Male for the inauguration of Muizzu’s predecessor Ibrahim Solih in 2018. Those were entirely different circumstances though as Solih represented a political party, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), that was more positively inclined towards India. The Indian government was also happy to see the back of Solih’s predecessor, China-friendly Abdulla Yameen, who was jailed later on corruption charges but hopes now, as his partner Muizzu takes over the presidency, to secure an early release.
When asked about the invitation to India, a spokesperson for Muizzu told TOI that as a policy, Muizzu did not intend to focus on any specific invitation. “We treat all invitations in the same order of importance In this matter, all neighbouring countries, close partners of Maldives and multilateral organisations have been invited,” said the official. China is among the countries that have been invited.
Since he defeated Solih in the presidential runoff in September, Muizzu has repeatedly said he will keep his poll promise to rid the archipelago of Indian military presence, although, as he himself has admitted, he isn’t aware of the number of Indian troops stationed in the Maldives. He said last month that he had already conveyed to Indian high commissioner Munu Mahawar, who had met Muizzu and delivered him a letter from Modi, that his ``topmost priority’’ was to remove Indian military personnel in the very first week of his presidency.
Official sources in Male told TOI though that the Maldives did not have even single Indian military personnel. ``What we have are our Indian technical personnel under the ITEC (Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation) programme assisting us to fly the Dornier aircraft and the 2 helicopters, and the doctors at the Senahiya military hospital,’’ he said, adding that the agreement on the deputation under ITEC was similar to the one signed between the 2 countries in 2011.The first chopper was gifted to Male in 2011 when then MDP leader Mohamed Nasheed was the president. Another chopper was given to the Maldives when Yameen was the president in 2016. Under the alleged influence of China, Yameen asked India to remove its choppers from the Maldives in 2018, months before he lost the election. In 2021, when Solih was the president, India gave a Dornier to the Maldives to enhance security and EEZ surveillance.
Kajal Agarwal
