Rashtrapati Bhavan hosts a ceremonial welcome for Maldives President Muizzu.

President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu a formal welcome on Monday at Rashtrapati Bhavan's forecourt.
After receiving a formal welcome, Muizzu went to Raj Ghat to honor Mahatma Gandhi. He will then meet with Prime Minister Modi one-on-one at the Hyderabad House.

At President Murmu's request, the president of the Maldives is currently on a five-day official visit to India, marking his first trip there since taking office. Muizzu was greeted by Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh and a high-level team when they landed at the Delhi airport earlier on Sunday.

Soon after the Maldives President landed in the capital on Sunday, Mohamed Muizzu was given a call by External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar.

"It gives me great pleasure to greet President Mohamed Muizzu on this first day of his official visit to India. Thank you for his dedication to improving the Maldives-Indian connection. Confident that his discussions with PM Narendra Modi tomorrow will renew our cordial relations," EAM Jaishankar wrote on X following his meeting with the president of the Maldives.

He is expected to have high-level discussions with Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, President Murmu, and other senior Indian government officials during his visit.

The president of the Maldives will be in Agra on Tuesday, accompanied by First Lady Sajidha Mohamed and a high-ranking entourage.

"President Dr. Muizzu is steadfast in his commitment to strengthening bilateral relations with countries that are essential to the Maldives' development and expansion, guaranteeing an active and vibrant foreign policy for the country. Discussions will focus on strengthening bilateral cooperation and further enhancing the longstanding partnership between the two nations,” Muizzu’s office said in a statement on Friday.

He has business commitments in Bengaluru and Mumbai as well.
The President of the Maldives attended the swearing-in event of Prime Minister Modi and the Council of Ministers earlier this year on June 9, 2024, at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.

On December 1, 2023, he had also met PM Modi in Dubai during the COP28 summit.

The visit demonstrates how much India values its ties to the Maldives. According to MEA spokeswoman Randhir Jaiswal, "it is anticipated to lend further momentum to cooperation and robust people-to-people ties between the two countries." This was stated last week.

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar paid an official three-day visit to the Maldives in August. This was his first trip there since taking up the position for a second term in June.

Prior to then, he had already traveled to the strategically crucial Indian Ocean archipelago in January 2023, as India insisted that the Maldives played a significant role in New Delhi's implementation of "SAGAR" and "Neighbourhood First."

Even though the two nations' ties soured last year, India continued to be an important source of development assistance for the island nation, funding a number of projects.