Muizzu leans towards China and has stated the expulsion of Indian Armed forces from Maldives

New Delhi: India has received an invitation for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the oath-taking ceremony of Maldives president-elect Mohamed Muizzu, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday.

However, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that it will be notified in the coming days, that who will be representing India at the occasion.

On being asked if India received an invitation to the Maldives President's oath-taking ceremony, Bagchi said, "We have received the invitation for the Prime Minister to attend that. We will let you know once we have a decision on who will represent us and in what capacity...We have received an invitation".

Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) candidate Mohamed Muizzu, won the Maldivian presidential elections last month.

Muizzu 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, after his victory in the Maldivian presidential elections.

"Congratulations and greetings to @MMuizzu 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," PM Modi had posted on X (formerly Twitter).

Following this, Indian High Commissioner to the Republic of Maldives, Munu Mahawar, on Wednesday met with the newly elected Maldivian President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, conveying Prime Minister Narendra Modi's congratulatory message to the newly elected leader.

The MEA had earlier said that New Delhi looks forward to engaging with the new administration in Male.

"Prime Minister was the first leader to convey greetings and felicitations to President-elect. PM Modi conveyed and reaffirmed India's commitment to strengthening the time-tested India-Maldives bilateral relationship and enhancing overall bilateral cooperation in the Indian Ocean region," Bagchi said.

He added, "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 (HADR). We look forward to engaging with the new administration in Maldives on all such issues".