Bharat announced that Union minister Kiren Rijiju will
represent the nation at the oath-taking of Maldivian President-elect Mohamed
Muizzu on Friday.
The Maldives had invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi
for the oath-taking of Muizzu.
Prime Minister Modi had attended the swearing-in
ceremony of incumbent President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in September 2018. His
visit to the Maldives had laid the foundation for strong ties between the two
countries.
Widely seen as a pro-China leader, Muizzu defeated
incumbent President Solih in the presidential runoff in September.
After winning the election, Muizzu has maintained that
he will keep his election promise of evicting Indian military personnel from
his country.
While Prime Minister Modi was the only head of a
government to attend Solih’s swearing-in ceremony, it is learnt that several
foreign leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping have been invited to
Muizzu’s oath-taking.
“At the invitation of the President-elect of Maldives
Mohamed Muizzu, Kiren Rijiju, Minister of Earth Sciences will visit Maldives
from 16-18 November to represent India at the inaugural ceremony of the
presidency,” the MEA said.
It said the high-level ministerial representation from
India at the inaugural ceremony underscores India’s commitment to further
deepen the substantive cooperation and robust people-to-people ties between the
two countries.
“Maldives is Bharat’s key maritime neighbour in the
Indian Ocean Region and occupies a special place in the prime minister’s vision
of ‘SAGAR’ (Security and Growth for All in the Region) and the Neighbourhood
First Policy,” the MEA said in a statement.
The Maldives is one of Bharat’s key maritime
neighbours in the Indian Ocean Region and the overall bilateral ties including
in areas of defence and security have been on an upward trajectory in the last
few years.
Solih had been consistently focusing on boosting ties
with India and was pursuing an “India First” policy.
In May, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited the
Maldives during which he handed over a fast patrol vessel and a landing craft
to the island nation.
In August last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and
Solih kick-started the India-funded Greater Male connectivity project, billed
as the largest infrastructure initiative in the island nation.
Under the Greater Male Connectivity Project (GMCP)
project, a 6.74-km-long bridge and causeway link will be built to connect the
capital city Male with adjoining islands of Villingli, Gulhifalhu and
Thilafushi.
The Maldives is also one of the biggest beneficiaries
of India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy.
PTI
