Male:

Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu has denied having an “India Out” agenda, asserting that the island nation had a “serious problem” with the presence of foreign military on its soil.

Mohamed Muizzu, who is in the US to attend the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, made the remarks on Thursday while responding to a question at Princeton University’s “Dean’s Leadership Series”.

“We have never been against any one country at any point. It’s not India Out. Maldives faced a serious problem with foreign military presence on this soil,” Maldivian news portal adhadhu.com quoted him as saying.

“The people of Maldives do not want a single foreign soldier in the country,” Mohamed Muizzu said.

The ties between India and the Maldives came under severe strain since November last year when Mohamed Muizzu, known for his pro-China leanings, took charge as Maldivian president.

Mohamed Muizzu had asked India to withdraw nearly 90 Indian military personnel operating three aviation platforms gifted by the country. India withdrew its military personnel by May 10 and replaced them with civilian personnel to operate a Dornier aircraft and two helicopters.

Mohamed Muizzu further stressed he had taken action against deputy ministers for insulting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media.

“No one should say such a thing. I took action against it. I will not accept insulting anyone like that, whether he is a leader or an ordinary person. Every human being has a reputation,” the report quoted him as saying.

Earlier this year, deputy ministers in Maldives’ youth ministry were suspended for derogatory social media posts against Prime Minister Modi following a backlash, with New Delhi strongly raising the matter with Male. The deputy ministers criticised Modi for his post on ‘X’ following his visit to Lakshadweep, inferring that it was an attempt to project the Union Territory as an alternative tourist destination to the Maldives.

Prime Minister Modi was in Lakshadweep on January 2 and 3 to inaugurate several projects.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Maldives’ President Mohamed Muizzu addresses the 79th United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., on September 24, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu has denied having an “India Out” agenda, asserting that the island nation had a “serious problem” with the presence of foreign military on its soil.

Mr. Muizzu, who is in the US to attend the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, commented on Thursday (September 26, 2024) while responding to a question at Princeton University’s “Dean’s Leadership Series”.

“We have never been against any one country at any point. It’s not India Out. Maldives faced a serious problem with foreign military presence on this soil,” Maldivian news portal adhadhu.com quoted him as saying.

“The people of Maldives do not want a single foreign soldier in the country,” Mr. Muizzu said.

The ties between India and the Maldives came under severe strain since November last year when Mr. Muizzu, known for his pro-China leanings, took charge as Maldivian President.

Mr. Muizzu had asked India to withdraw nearly 90 Indian military personnel operating three aviation platforms gifted by the country. India withdrew its military personnel by May 10 and replaced them with civilian personnel to operate a Dornier aircraft and two helicopters.

Mr. Muizzu added he had taken action against deputy ministers for insulting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media.

Also Read: Maldives President Muizzu thanks India, China for support to strengthen his country’s fragile economy

“No one should say such a thing. I took action against it. I will not accept insulting anyone like that, whether he is a leader or an ordinary person. Every human being has a reputation,” the report quoted him as saying.

Earlier this year, Deputy Ministers in Maldives’ youth ministry were suspended for derogatory social media posts against Prime Minister Modi following a backlash, with New Delhi strongly raising the matter with Male. The Deputy Ministers criticised PM Modi for his post on ‘X’ following his visit to Lakshadweep in January, inferring that it was an attempt to project the Union Territory as an alternative tourist destination to the Maldives.

Male:

In a goodwill gesture, India on Thursday said it has decided to rollover a USD 50 million Treasury Bill for an additional year upon the request of the Maldives government.

“At the request of the Government of Maldives, the State Bank of India (SBI) has subscribed the USD 50 mn Government Treasury Bill (T-bills) issued by the Ministry of Finance of Maldives, for a period of one more year from the date of maturity of the previous subscription, September 19, 2024,” the High Commission of India in Maldives said in a press release.

SBI bought the Treasury Bill under an agreement signed by the previous government. SBI has bought a total of USD 200 million in Treasury Bills for USD 50 million for each one, the Adhadhu news portal reported.

The Treasury Bills were previously rolled over annually with interest paid by the Indian government. However, the government of President Mohamed Muizzu repaid USD 50 million in January this year, it said.

Maldives had requested the Indian government to extend the deadline for repayment of the remaining USD 150 million. India agreed to rollover USD 50 million in May and a second USD 50 million payment was due today.

“Sincere gratitude to External Affairs Minister @DrSJaishankar and the Government of #India for extending crucial budgetary support to the Maldives with the rollover of USD 50 million Treasury Bill. This generous gesture reflects the enduring bonds of friendship between #Maldives and #India,” Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer said in a post on X on Thursday.

Sincere gratitude to External Affairs Minister @DrSJaishankar and the Government of #India for extending crucial budgetary support to the Maldives with the rollover of USD 50 million Treasury Bill.

This generous gesture reflects the enduring bonds of friendship between…

— Moosa Zameer (@MoosaZameer) September 19, 2024

Earlier in May 2024, the SBI had similarly subscribed a USD 50 mn T-bills under the same mechanism, again on the request of the Government of Maldives.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry Thursday thanked the “generous support that the Government of India has been providing to the Maldives in the form of budgetary support.” “This extension comes at a pivotal moment as the Government of Maldives is implementing a strong fiscal consolidation program to address the pressing economic challenges,” the ministry said.

The development comes days after Foreign Minister Zameer acknowledged that the Maldives-India ties witnessed rough patches in the initial days of President Mohamed Muizzu-led government but insisted that the two countries have resolved the “misunderstandings”.

India’s relationship with the Maldives came under strain since Mohamed Muizzu, known for his pro-China leanings, took charge as the President. Within hours of his oath, he had demanded the withdrawal of Indian military personnel manning three aviation platforms gifted by India to the Maldives. After talks between the two sides, the Indian military personnel were replaced by civilians.

Unlike his predecessors, who made the first port of call to New Delhi after assuming office, Mohamed Muizzu travelled to Turkiye first and to China for his first state visit in January. He visited New Delhi on June 9 to attend Prime Minister Modi’s swearing-in ceremony.

Mohamed Muizzu will travel to India on an official visit “very soon”, his spokesperson said last week.

The Maldivian government is also working to defer repayment of loans taken from other countries including China.

The Maldives owes much of its external debt to China and India. The government’s debt servicing commitments amount to USD 409 million this year, placing additional stress on its already limited foreign currency reserves.

Maldives reserves currently stand at USD 444 million, with usable reserves at USD 61 million.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Male:

India is supporting 65 community development projects worth USD 23 million in the Maldives and steady progress has been achieved in implementing them, the Indian mission said on Thursday.

Of the 47 High Impact Community Development Projects in Maldives under grant aid by the Government of India approved till November 2023, as many as eight are already completed.

Notwithstanding the diplomatic row in recent times, India is supporting 65 community development projects worth MVR 360 million (USD 23 million) in the archipelagic nation, the High Commission of India said.

“While the grant is being provided by the Indian government, the projects are selected in order of priority as set by the Maldivian government. Implementation of these projects are also undertaken by institutions appointed by the Maldives government,” news portal Edition.mv said.

“Happy to note steady progress of Greater Male Connectivity Project, being implemented with Indian grant and concessional credit @USD 500 million. GMCP is a transformational infrastructure project which will stimulate economic growth and improve ease of living in Maldives.” The Indian High Commission posted on its official X handle on Wednesday.

The post on X came after Maldives’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the High Commission of India in Maldives held a two-day meeting to review the ongoing projects when it was discussed that even as eight projects are completed, the rest of the High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDPs) remain at different levels of progress.

These include a wide variety of projects spread throughout the atolls. Some initiatives included are the establishment of fish processing plants, drug detoxification centres, cultural centres, youth centres and sports complexes, Edition.mv reported.

Ambassador at Large Ahmed Naseer and High Commissioner of India to Maldives Munu Mahawar co-chaired the meeting, which saw the participation of senior government officials and other stakeholders.

The Memorandum of Understanding for this Indian Grant Assistance on implementation of these High Impact Community Development Projects through local institutions was initially signed between India and Maldives on March 17, 2019, it said, adding, “At the time, the MoU outlined a grant totalling USD 5.5 million (MVR 85 million).” In 2021, this MoU was renewed, increasing the grant to (USD 10 million) MVR 155 million; in January 2023, yet another MoU for grant assistance was signed, this time with a USD 6.5 million (MVR 100 million) increment, bringing the HICDPs grant from India to Maldives to a total of USD 16.5 million (MVR 255 million).

Additionally, there are also cash grant projects worth over USD 7 million (MVR 107 million), for multiple projects, it added.

India-Maldives relations started going south when within hours of his oath-taking in November 2023, President Mohamed Muizzu demanded India to withdraw its military personnel manning three aviation platforms from his country. The last of the military personnel were repatriated earlier this month and replaced by civilian personnel from India.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)