New Delhi: Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu, who had taken a series of actions to distance Maldives from India since taking oath last year, Thursday said he hopes New Delhi would facilitate a lenient debt repayment schedule for Malé, according to local media reports.
Muizzu previous actions as President included calling for and negotiating the removal of Indian troops from the country. India had unarmed military personnel situated in the island country as part of an agreement with the government of Maldives.
However, in his first interview with the Maldivian news outlet Mihaaru, he called India the “closest ally” to the Maldives and that he has no intention of stopping any developmental project funded by New Delhi.
“We have inherited huge loans from India. So we are discussing easy ways to repay the loans. Ongoing projects should also be accelerated instead of stopped. So I don’t see any weakening in [India-Maldives ties],” Muizzu is quoted as saying by Mihaaru.
He added that he is looking for leniency with regard to repayments of loans to India, keeping in mind the economic capacity of the Maldives.
In December 2018, India offered Maldives $1.4 billion in assistance and a line of credit of $800 million a few months later.
This was after Ibrahim Solih, representing the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP), was elected to power. Solih and his party held a favourable ‘India-first’ policy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first foreign visit of his second term in June 2019 was to Maldives.
Meanwhile, Muizzu invited more Indian-led projects to the Maldives. “I also told Prime Minister Modi on the day of the meeting at COP28 that I do not want to stop any project. I want to move it faster than before. I talked about the high-level committee,” he is quoted as saying.
He added: “I said a high-level committee should be established that can make immediate and quick decisions on the bridge project to ensure the work goes at a fast pace. The same for Hanimaadhoo Airport too.”
Muizzu, who beat Solih in the presidential election in September 2023, is considered to be a part of the pro-China camp. Between 2013 and 2018, he was the minister of housing and infrastructure during the Abdulla Yameen administration.
The Yameen administration borrowed heavily from China. Maldives joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) — an initiative where Beijing offers investment to build railways, ports and highways to expand trade across continents. By 2018, Chinese aid to Maldives touched $1.5 billion.
Also Read: How can India regain footing in Maldives? Keeping China out is the Great Game at Delhi event
Change in stance?
One of Muizzu’s first actions after taking over as President was to ask for the removal of Indian troops from the archipelago. In January 2024, he moved to replace India as the country’s traditional security partner.
The Maldivian government bought drones from Türkiye worth $37 million to patrol its high seas — a task that was done by New Delhi in partnership with the Maldivian defence forces.
Muizzu’s first official state visit was to Türkiye, after taking over the presidency. Moreover, Maldives first decided to open an embassy with Ankara only on 10 December 2023, which was later established in February this year.
Furthermore, during a visit to China, Muizzu invited more Chinese investments and signed 20 MoUs with various Chinese ministries. He has also allowed Maldivian ports to be open to Chinese research vessels, despite objections from India.
To all this, Muizzu told Mihaaru that his government has not said or done anything to weaken its relationship with India.
He even emphasised that the actions of his government are to ensure that no foreign governments have troops present in the country and that Malé should manage their own exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
“This is the most important issue. When a foreign country’s troops are in this country, [and in this case] it is Indian troops. Even if they are troops of another country, we will deal with them with the same force,” explained Muizzu to Mihaaru.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
Also Read: India & Maldives agree to phased replacement of Indian military personnel, says Malé