FM Khaleel in India on official visit

Foreign Minister Dr. Abdulla Khaleel traveled to India on an official visit on Thursday.

Minister Khaleel, via a post on X on Thursday night, announced he had arrived in Indian capital New Delhi on an official visit.

As per the Minister, he is scheduled to meet with India’s External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar during the trip.

Arrived New Delhi on my first Official visit to meet with my distinguished counterpart, Minister of External Affairs of India @DrSJaishankar.

Looking forward to productive discussions to deepen and enhance our partnership, address key priorities issues and further strengthen the…

— Abdulla Khaleel (@abkhaleel) January 2, 2025

The Minister said he was looking forward to productive discussions to deepen and enhance Maldives-India relations, address key priorities issues and further strengthen the ties between the two nations for its peoples' mutual prosperity and benefit.

This is Minister Khaleel's first official trip to India since he became Foreign Minister on September 30th, after previously holding the position of Health Minister.

According to Indian news outlets, the Minister’s visit will span three days.

Relations between Male’ and New Delhi had been strained in the early days of President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu’s presidency after he 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 Modi following a social media post promoting India’s Lakshadweep as an alternative tourist destination to the Maldives.

The 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 were suspended, and two of them – Mariyam Shiuna and Malsha Shareef – later resigned.

But despite the earlier turmoil, officials from both Male’ and Delhi repeatedly expressed keenness to maintain relations and engaged in several high-level visits between the two countries. Subsequently, relations between the neighboring nations have stabilized.