Union Minister of Earth Sciences Kiren Rijiju will represent India at the oath-taking ceremony of Maldivian President-elect Mohamed Muizzu.
Union Minister of Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju (Photo:ANI)
Union Minister of Earth Sciences Kiren Rijiju will represent India at the oath-taking ceremony of Maldivian President-elect Mohamed Muizzu.
Rijiju will be on a three-day visit to the island nation from Thursday at the invitation of the President-elect. ”This high level of ministerial representation from India at the inaugural ceremony underscores India’s commitment to further deepen substantive cooperation and robust people-to-people ties between the two countries,” the Ministry of External Affairs said.
India had received an invitation for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the oath-taking ceremony of Maldives president-elect. Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) candidate Mohamed Muizzu, who is considered pro-China, won the Maldivian presidential elections last month.
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He won with more than 53 per cent of the vote in the second round of voting, after emerging as the frontrunner in the first round with 46 per cent votes, followed by Ibrahim Solih’s 39 per cent. Prime Minister Modi had also congratulated Muizzu on his victory.
The Maldives is India’s key maritime neighbour in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and occupies a special place in the prime minister’s vision of ‘SAGAR’ (Security and Growth for All in the Region) and the ‘Neighbourhood First Policy’.
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