India seems ahead to partaking the brand new Maldives authorities on “all issues”, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) mentioned on Thursday, responding to the Maldivian President-elect Mohamed Muizzu’s assertion that Indian navy personnel could be requested to leave the islands.

On Wednesday night, Indian High Commissioner to Male Munnu Mahawar met Mr. Muizzu, and handed over a letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulating him on his electoral victory.

“Our High Commissioner in Male called on the President-elect, and he had a good discussion on various aspects of our bilateral relationship including development cooperation,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi mentioned. 

MEA officers didn’t touch upon who could be despatched to characterize New Delhi at Mr. Muizzu’s swearing-in ceremony. In an unprecedented gesture in 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had attended President Ibu Solih’s inauguration ceremony in Male.

‘India Out’ marketing campaign

Last Saturday’s run-off election noticed Mr. Muizzu, the previous Mayor of Male, defeat the incumbent President Solih by 19,000 votes, or an 8% margin. The outcomes have been broadly seen as an upset for India, that had shut ties with the Solih administration. Speaking at a public rally after the elections, Mr. Muizzu, who stood because the candidate for the PNC-PPM coalition that had campaigned on an “India Out” plank, had mentioned that the “sovereignty” of the Maldives was most essential.

“The people have decided and don’t want Indian troops to stay in the Maldives. Therefore, foreign soldiers cannot be here against our sentiments, against our will,’’ the President-elect was quoted as saying by Maldivian news outlets on Tuesday.

“So, I have to tell the [Indian] ambassador who is going to meet me that we will have a very good relationship with these values,” he had added. 

Coast Guard venture opposed

While India has had a powerful navy presence within the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) for a few years, naval and airforce personnel have been stationed within the Addu and Lammu islands since 2013 as a way to keep and function two helicopters and Dornier plane that India had loaned the Maldives for reconnaissance operations over the previous decade. In November 2021, the Maldives National Defence Force informed a Parliamentary Committee {that a} complete of 75 Indian navy personnel had been stationed in the Maldives.

In February 2021, the Maldivian opposition protested an MoU or draft settlement on maritime safety signed by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar with the Maldives Defence Minister, as a way to assemble a Coast Guard harbour base on the Uthuru Thilafalhu atoll. The development was inaugurated throughout a go to by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in May this 12 months, and this has been the main focus of the PPM’s “India Out” protests. 

‘Close collaboration needed’

While the MEA spokesperson didn’t particularly reply to Mr. Muizzu’s risk to take away Indian navy personnel — a transfer that might overturn an essential part of India-Maldives strategic ties previously few years — he mentioned that the 2 nations wanted to cooperate “closely”.

“The focus of our partnership with Maldives has always been on capacity building and working together to address our shared challenges and priorities. As neighbours, we need to collaborate closely to address the challenges confronting our region such as transnational crimes and Humanitarian Assistance Disaster Relief,” Mr. Bagchi mentioned, including that the federal government seems ahead to “engaging with the new administration in Maldives on all such issues.”