Maldives President Mohammed Muizzu was seen sitting next to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the dinner banquet hosted by President Droupadi Murmu on Sunday.
After the oath taking ceremony of NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, all the invited foreign leaders attended the banquet at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The island nation’s President Muizzu was seen sitting to the left of PM Modi at the banquet.
The banquet at the Rashtrapati Bhavan was hosted in the honour of the leaders of neighbouring countries who attended the swearing-in-ceremony of Prime Minister Modi and his council of ministers.
Following the banquet hosted by President Murmu, President Muizzu also took to social media to put out a few photos of his meeting with the Indian PM.
The relations between India and Maldives have been at all time low in recent months, following the takeover of Muizzu in the island nation. However, Muizzu’s visit to India is seen as a first step towards bolstering ties again between the two neighbours.
Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu, who rode on the 'India Out' campaign to dislodge the India-friendly Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, was one of the foreign heads of states invited to the oath-taking ceremony of the Modi 3.0.
The invitation to the oath-taking ceremony and the subsequent banquet could be an affirmation of India's Neighbours First policy.
The other leaders who attended the banquet included Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe; Seychelles Vice President Ahmed Afif; Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina; Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth; Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda and Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay.
