Modi to attend Independence Day events in Male
Ties in the neighbourhood will come back into focus next week as Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Male on July 25-26 for the Independence Day of the Maldives, and sources say a long-pending visit by Nepal’s Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli to New Delhi is being planned shortly after his return.
Mr. Modi was expected to travel to the UK to sign the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, but officials said the trip, which is still being planned for July 24, has not been “finalised” and could be delayed.
Mr. Modi is expected to land in Male on July 25, and will be given a ceremonial welcome. He will hold bilateral talks with Maldives’ President Mohamed Muizzu, who visited India in June 2024 for Mr. Modi’s swearing-in ceremony and then for a State visit in October. Among a number of development initiatives, both sides are expected to build on the launch of digital payment system UPI and mechanisms to increase tourist arrivals between both countries, officials working on the visit said.
On July 26, Mr. Modi was invited as a guest to the Independence Day parade and other special ceremonies to mark 60 years of the Maldives gaining independence from the British in 1965. Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Khaleel announced the invitation during his visit to India in May this year.
Officials said that India and the U.K. have also been discussing a short visit to London by Mr. Modi before he travels to Male on July 24 to sign the FTA that he announced, as well as a meeting with Mr. Starmer on May 6. However, it is understood that some technical and “legal scrubbing” still needs to be completed, and the trip may need to be postponed or held after the Male visit.
The visit to the Maldives is significant as it marks Mr. Modi’s first visit to the neighbouring country since the election of Mr. Muizzu in November 2023. Ties between India and the Maldives hit a rough patch over the “India Out” campaign that Mr. Muizzu had backed during his campaign, and the subsequent “Boycott Maldives” social media campaign that followed, sparked by criticism of Mr. Modi by Maldivian Ministers.