Showing no signs of making an effort to mend diplomatic ties with India, Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu had said that no one could bully his country. While Mr. Muizzu did not name India, it is understood that he was referencing the ongoing diplomatic spat between the two countries.
The Maldivian leader said that the Indian Ocean does not belong to a single country, and his nation had hundreds of thousands of kilometers of economic zone despite its small size.
Mr. Muizzu has also just visited China and requested that the communist nation boost tourism in Maldives.
The diplomatic tensions between India and Maldives hit a low when a few Deputy Ministers of Mr. Muizzu’s administration made derogatory comments against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for trying to boost tourism in the Lakshadweep Islands.
Mr. Muizzu’s party, the People’s National Congress, took an active anti-India stance in the poll run-up. However, in a fresh setback, the ruling party lost the Mayoral seat of the capital, Male, to the opposition party, the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).