Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu says 'planning to visit India as soon as possible'

NEW DELHI: Maldives president Mohamed Muizzu on Friday claimed that the island country has a very strong bilateral relationship with India and he is planning to visit India as soon as possible.

"I am planning to visit (India) as soon as possible. We have a very strong bilateral relationship," Muizzu said.

Several media reports indicated that Muizzu may visit India in mid October.

Muizzu last came to New Delhi to participate in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s swearing-in on June 9 along with leaders of six other regional countries.

Earlier, Muizzu said that Maldives has no issues with India, but the people of Maldives do not want any foreign military presence in the country.

Speaking at Princeton University on the sidelines of his ongoing trip to the USA to participate in the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, Muizzu detailed that the issue was a foreign military presence in the country.

"Even one foreign military personnel in Maldives is not something the Maldivian people accept. But being them coming from India doesn't mean we're against India," Muizzu said adding that had the officers been from any other country, the objection would still have been the same

The relationship between India and the Maldives has been strained since Muizzu's administration took office in November 2023.

His campaign included an "India-out" stance, which called for the withdrawal of Indian military personnel from the Maldives. This demand was quickly acted upon, leading to the replacement of Indian military presence with civilian personnel. Tensions escalated further when derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi were made by Maldivian officials, prompting backlash and the suspension of those involved.

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