India’s top diplomat Jaishankar to visit Maldives next month

India’s External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar is scheduled to visit the Maldives next month, according to media reports.

The trip will mark the top Indian diplomat’s first visit to Male’ since President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s administration took office in November last year.

India-based news agency WION reported on Wednesday that Jaishankar is expected to be in Male’, likely from August 9 onwards for two to three days.

He is expected to hold key talks with President Muizzu and his Maldivian counterpart Moosa Zameer.

WION also reported that President Muizzu will most likely make his highly anticipated official visit to India sometime in September.

However, the dates have yet to be confirmed.

Relations between Male’ and New Delhi had grown strained after President Muizzu demanded that India withdraw its troops from Maldives – executing a pledge he made during his presidential campaign. Things escalated further after three Maldivian deputy ministers made disparaging remarks regarding India and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the social media platform X.

Maldives Foreign Ministry was quick to distance itself from the remarks, saying that they do not represent the views of the Male’ government. The three junior ministers remain under suspension.

The freeze in longstanding relations between Male’ and New Delhi appears to be thawing, with three key visits from Maldives to India in recent months. The first was by Zameer in May. It followed President Muizzu’s visit to attend Modi’s inauguration for a third term in office in June. Meanwhile, Tourism Minister Ibrahim Faisal is currently visiting India for roadshows in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru – seeking to boost arrivals from India which had plummeted in the wake of a social media boycott campaign sparked by the ministers’ derogatory remarks.

Officials from both Male’ and Delhi have expressed keenness to maintaining relations between the two countries.