Male: Maldives’ main opposition party Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has welcomed the “sudden change” in its India policy by the government led by President Mohammed Muizzu. MDP said that Male has always been confident that whenever the country faces a crisis and calls for help, New Delhi will be the first to help. MDP President Abdullah Shahid said this after meeting India’s Foreign Minister S Jaishankar here on Saturday.

‘Muizzu government should apologize’
The MDP president said that his party demands that the Muizzu government should publicly apologize for the actions, lies and irresponsible statements of its officials due to which Maldives has suffered a lot on the foreign and economic front. Jaishankar is on a three-day official visit to Maldives to strengthen bilateral relations. This is the first high-level visit from New Delhi after the island nation’s pro-China President Mohammad Muizzu took office nearly nine months ago.

‘India will come first to help’

Former Foreign Minister Shahid posted on the social media platform ‘X’ late Saturday night, saying, “I was very happy to welcome and meet Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar in Maldives along with my colleagues from the MDP Secretariat.” He said, “Maldives has always been confident that whenever Maldives “dials international 911″, the first country to help will be India.” He said, “Due to aggressive slogans, mockery and inciting anti-India sentiments against India by the current government, Maldives’ international reputation has been greatly damaged, economic damage has been caused and many other unnecessary difficulties and challenges have been faced.” Shahid said, “In such a situation, now when there has been a sudden change in the Maldives-India policy of President Muizzu’s government, MDP welcomes it.”

Relations had deteriorated

Relations between India and Maldives became tense last year after Muizzu, known for his inclination towards China, took over as President. Within hours of taking the oath of office, Muizzu had demanded the withdrawal of Indian military personnel from his country. President Muizzu on Saturday described India as “one of the closest allies” and expressed his government’s full commitment to strengthen the historical and close relations between the two countries. Shahid said, “The MDP hopes that this change will not be temporary or pretentious, but will be in the best interest of the people of Maldives.”