Maldives’ President Mohamed Muizzu on Monday arrived in China for a five-day visit till 12 January at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, an official statement said.
“During this visit, the Maldivian and Chinese governments will hold official talks and sign key agreements to improve trade, professional, and socioeconomic development in the Maldives. The visit aims to pave the way for technological and other collaborations between the two countries,” said a statement from the Maldivian Presidency.
Muizzu is also scheduled to attend the ‘Invest Maldives Forum’ and meet senior Chinese government officials as well as business leaders during his visit, the presidency said.
China currently ranks as Maldives’ largest creditor, with Male owing nearly $1.3 billion to Beijing in debt repayments. Beijing also ranks as one of the country’s biggest trading partners and investors, with the two governments having inked a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in 2017.
Maldives has also signed on to the Beijing-backed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Closely-Watched Visit
The visit is the first state visit by Muizzu, who was sworn in power in November last year.
Previously, he also visited Turkiye and Dubai to attend the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference (COP28).
The Maldivian President has sought to reverse the ‘India First’ Policy of the previous Ibrahim Mohamed Solih government, as he has demanded the end of the Indian military presence in the country after coming to power.
Around 75 Indian military personnel are engaged in operations and maintenance of Indian platforms engaged in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations in the country.
Traditionally, New Delhi has remained the closest defence partner of the Maldives and the first responder to political and humanitarian crises in the country.
The Maldivian Presidency has also said that it won’t renew the hydrographic pact with the Indian Navy.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has refused to comment on Muizzu’s China visit.
"It is for them to decide where they go and how they go about their international relations," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a briefing in New Delhi last week.
However, New Delhi has maintained that it "closely monitors" all the developments taking place in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and South Asia.