Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated President-Elect Mohamed Muizzu on his election win.
“Congratulations and greetings to @MMuizzu [Muizzu] on being elected as President of the Maldives. India remains committed to strengthening the time-tested India-Maldives bilateral relationship and enhancing our overall cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region,” the Indian head of government posted to social media, acknowledging the incoming president’s second-round win over incumbent Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
Solih’s current Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)-led administration had been criticised for its relationship with India, which was seen as excessively influencing the independence and sovereignty of the Maldive; a point of significant contention during the presidential campaign.
With Muizzu’s slogan for his presidential campaign, ‘Dhivehinge Rajje’ translating and underlining “The nation of Maldivians”, the president-elect had promised he would initiate the process of removing a large number of Indian troops from the country on his first day in office.
The Solih administration had, however, repeatedly denied allegations of influence and sovereign interference, all the while withholding key information on major projects, citing national security concerns — actions which, in hindsight, may have been a major deciding factor in the elections. The incumbent, who initially came in second in the first round of the presidential elections, rushed to announce several ‘advancement policies’ in hopes of securing an additional term through a second-round win.
While external observers often characterise the current elections solely in terms of a ‘China vs. India’ foreign policy alliance for the Maldives, Muizzu was also congratulated for his win by China’s Ambassador to the Maldives, Wang Lixin.
“Warm Congratulations!” China’s Ambassador said, headlining a succinct repost of a congratulatory media article, on the President-Elect’s win, to social media.
Muizzu faced off against Solih in the second-round runoff for the nation’s top job on 30 September with provisional results determining Muizzu as the new President-Elect with a lead of eight percent, dominating in a large number of constituencies, over rival Solih.