Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: On a three-day visit to Pakistan, Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu saw the country and Pakistan sign 20 agreements covering defence, maritime security, policing, trade and other sectors.
He met the who’s who of the Islamic Republic, from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Deputy PM Ishaq Dar to the powerful army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir. Muizzu even donned a robe to receive an honorary doctorate from an Islamic university.
During the state visit, from October 20 to 22, Muizzu called for reviving the largely dormant South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc), whose last summit was held in Kathmandu in 2014. His meeting with Pakistan’s powerful army chief has added a strategic dimension to the diplomatic outreach. The developments have raised questions about whether the Indian Ocean island nation is moving closer to Islamabad, and what that means for New Delhi, according to India Today.
The international waters around the Maldives, located along vital Indian Ocean shipping routes, have traditionally been within New Delhi’s immediate strategic neighbourhood and its sphere of influence. India maintained military personnel in the archipelago to operate and maintain aircraft used for humanitarian assistance and medical evacuations, but Muizzu’s government secured their replacement with civilian technical personnel in May 2024.
Strained ties
The outreach to Pakistan comes against the backdrop of tensions with India, stoked by Muizzu himself, who rode the “India Out” campaign to power in 2023 but has since been working to repair the strained bilateral relationship.
Muizzu’s visit was the first by a Maldivian president to Pakistan in 11 years and coincided with the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations, established in July 1966. Both countries also agreed to raise bilateral trade from approximately $13 million to $200 million within two years.
