Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu and his wife Sajidha Mohamed visited the Taj Mahal in Uttar Pradesh's Agra on Tuesday morning. Muizzu is on a five-day visit to India and arrived in Agra earlier this morning.
"President His Excellency Dr @MMuizzu and First Lady Madam Sajidha Mohamed arrived in Agra, where they will tour the historic Taj Mahal as part of the President's State Visit to India," the President's office of the Maldives wrote on X.
On Monday, the Maldivian President held meetings with President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior leaders. When Muizzu arrived on Sunday, he was welcomed by Union Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh. This is the second time that Muizzu is visiting India this year after attending the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June.
As per ANI, almost every Maldivian President has made his first foreign visit to India, but Muizzu changed the trend by first visiting Turkiye and then China.
Since taking office, the Muizzu government has taken several unconventional steps regarding India-Maldives relations. Muizzu’s presidential campaign was centred around the “India Out” slogan, with the removal of Indian troops from the Maldives being a key focus of the party’s election platform, reported ANI.
However, lately, Muizzu has taken a reconciliatory tone after ties with India soured. He also thanked India for financial assistance and called New Delhi one of Male's "closest" allies.
On Monday, PM Modi and President Muizzu held a bilateral meeting and comprehensively reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral ties while noting the progress made by the two nations in deepening their "historically close and special relationship" that has immensely contributed to the betterment of the people of the two nations, reported ANI.
Muizzu expressed gratitude to India for its timely emergency financial assistance, including by way of rolling over T-bills subscribed by SBI amounting to $100 million in May and September 2024 for a further period of one year that provided much-needed financial cushion for the Maldives in addressing its urgent needs.