Maldives Foreign Minister’s maiden India visit a challenging task for him amid frosty ties | Explained

New Delhi: Maldives Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer is set to visit Indian on Wednesday amid strained ties between the two countries. This will be the first visit of any senior Maldivian official to India since the ties between the two countries turned sour after President Mohamed Muizzu, widely seen as a pro-China leader, took oath last November. There has been a significant shift in Maldives’ geopolitical and military policy since Muizzu assumed office. The ties between India and the Maldives that were on an upward trajectory under the previous government of Ibrahim Solih nosedived after Muizzu asked New Delhi to pull out its troops from the island nation.

First visit from Maldives since ties with India hit rough patch

The Maldivian Foreign Minister who is on a two-day visit to India will meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and hold discussion on deepening and expanding the longstanding partnership between the Maldives and India. This is maiden high-level visit from Male since the ties between the two countries came under strain over Muizu’s anti-India approach. “​Maldives is India’s key maritime neighbour in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and Foreign Minister Zameer’s visit is expected to lend further momentum to the bilateral cooperation between the two countries,” the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

Why Moosa Zameer’s India visit will be a challenging task for him?

Withdrawal of Indian troops: Maldivian Foreign Minister’s visit to India comes at a time when the ties between the two countries are on a downward trajectory. The relations between India and the Maldives soured since the change of regime in the island nation. After assuming office six months ago, Muizzu insisted on the withdrawal of nearly 90 Indian military personnel operating three aviation platforms in the island nation. He had set May 10 as the deadline for the exit of all Indian troops from his country. India has already pulled out most of its military personnel.

Lakshadweep row: The already-strained ties between India and the Maldives worsened in January over derogatory social media posts by three Maldivian ministers against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The ministers made derogatory remarks against PM Modi after he posted photos and video of the pristine Lakshadweep Islands on his X handle. PM Modi’s social media post was seen as an attempt to project the Union Territory as an alternative tourist destination to the Maldives.

Dip in Indian tourists in Maldives: The Lakshadweep controversy followed by a significant decline in Indian tourist arrivals in Maldives, a crucial tourist market to the island nation. According to the Maldives Tourism Ministry, India has remained the largest tourist market for the country in 2023. India, the traditional benefactor of the popular tourism hotspot, was the top tourist market for the Maldives but its position went down from topmost to sixth position after January. Recently, Maldivian Tourism Minister Ibrahim Faisal urged Indian tourists to visit his country, saying that island nation’s economy depends on tourism. “Our people and the government will give a warm welcome to Indian arrivals. As the Tourism Minister, I want to tell Indians to please be a part of Maldives’ tourism,” he was quoted as saying by PTI.