S Jaishankar in Maldives: India-Maldives relations have seen a lot of ups and downs in the last few years. President Mohammed Muizzu’s closeness to China has been the biggest reason for this.
India-Maldives Relations: Relations between India and its small neighboring country Maldives seem to be back on track. President Mohammed Muizzu does not want to spoil relations with India despite being pro-China. This is the reason why he has now changed the Maldives-India policy. The main opposition party of Maldives, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), has welcomed the change in policy made by the government led by Muizzu. It has also talked about the help received from India.
In fact, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar has made a three-day visit to Maldives. This is the first visit of a senior official-leader from India after about nine months of Mohammad Muizzu becoming the President. Through this visit, Jaishankar has tried to bring the spoiled relations with Maldives back on track and strengthen bilateral relations. During his visit, the Foreign Minister met MDP President Abdullah Shahid. Shahid has praised India only after the meeting.
I am happy to welcome Jaishankar: Abdullah Shahid
Abdullah Shahid has also been the Foreign Minister of Maldives. He said in a post on the social media platform X that he welcomes the changed policy of the Maldives government towards India. He also said that Maldives is also assured of always getting help from India. Abdullah Shahid said, “I am very happy to welcome and meet Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar in Maldives along with my colleagues of the MDP Secretariat.” He has also shared pictures of this. India will be the first country to help Maldives in trouble: Abdullah Shahid
The former foreign minister of Maldives further said, “Maldives has always been confident that whenever it dials ‘International 911’, the first country to help will be India.” He said, “The aggressive sloganeering, mockery and incitement of anti-India sentiments by the current government against India has caused a lot of damage to the international image of Maldives.”
Abdullah said in the post, “At the same time, Maldives suffered economic losses and faced many other unnecessary troubles and challenges. In such a situation, now when there has been a sudden change in the Maldives-India policy of President Muizzu’s government, MDP welcomes it. MDP hopes that this change will not be temporary or superficial, but will be consistent and meaningful in the best interest of the people of Maldives.”
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