Within a year, the Maldives government has come to its senses. Now the tone of the Muizzu government regarding India seems to be changing. The President has realized that his work will not be done without building relations with India. The administration has also accepted for the first time that in the initial phase, they had spoiled the relations with India.
Maldives Foreign Minister Musa Jameer said that India-Maldives relations went through a difficult phase during the initial days of the government led by President Mohammed Muizzu, but now both the governments have resolved the misunderstandings. Foreign Minister Musa Jameer said this during his visit to Sri Lanka last Friday.
Musa Zameer also talked about establishing better relations with China and India as well as other major allies. Zameer said that after the withdrawal of Indian troops from Maldives, relations between India and Maldives remained challenging, but now these misunderstandings have been resolved.
A few hours after China-backed Mohammad Muizzu assumed the presidency, the three Indian military contingents gifted to Maldives were sent back to India. After talks between the two sides, technical workers were deployed in place of the soldiers.
After this, three Deputy Chief Ministers of Maldives made objectionable comments about India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after which tensions between the two countries increased even more, but the Foreign Ministry of Maldives distanced itself from these comments. Shortly after, these three ministers who made objectionable comments were suspended from the government.
After Mohammad Muizzu took over as President, he did not visit New Delhi, on the contrary he first went to Turkey and after that in January last year, he chose China for his first state visit. Muizzu also visited New Delhi on June 9 during the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He is going to make an official visit to India very soon.
Foreign Minister Zameer says that Maldives will not request a relief package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He said that he trusts his bilateral partnership partners to understand his situation.
The foreign minister also mentioned that China and India have been important countries in supporting the Maldives. This comment by Foreign Minister Musa Zameer has been made in view of the warning of credit rating agencies about the financial condition of Maldives. Let us tell you that currently Maldives has a debt of 40.9 crore US dollars. At the same time, the foreign exchange reserves present in the country are 44.4 crore US dollars.
Published at : 16 Sep 2024 12:12 PM (IST)