Amid diplomatic row and tension with India over his ministers’ objectionable comments against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Maldives President Mohammed Muizzu on Wednesday met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
After this, both the countries signed 20 important agreements including tourism cooperation and elevated their bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
According to a report by state news agency Xinhua, the two presidents announced the elevation of bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
“This afternoon, 20 important agreements were signed between the governments of Maldives and China in the presence of both Presidents,” the Maldives President’s office said in a post on social media platform X.
These agreements include tourism cooperation, disaster risk reduction, maritime economy, strengthening investment in the digital economy and the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative.
China has also agreed to provide grant assistance to Maldives but the amount was not disclosed. Muizzu and his wife Sajida Mohammed were warmly welcomed in Beijing.
President Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan hosted a state banquet in his honor. The state visit of the Maldivian President to China comes in the backdrop of derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Modi by his ministers and the release of a report by the European Union election observation mission.
The report said the ruling coalition of the Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and the People’s National Congress (PNC) instigated anti-India sentiments and attempted to spread misinformation in the 2023 presidential elections, which Muizzu won.
Muizzu is considered a pro-China leader. Recently, some ministers of Maldives had made derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Modi.
After that a large number of Indian tourists canceled their trip to Maldives. Maldives is an island nation dependent on tourism. Apart from talks with Xi, Muizzu is expected to meet Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and other senior officials. He will return to Male on 12 January. Muizzu reached Beijing last night. Before this he was in Fujian city of China for two days. Muizzu on Tuesday urged China to step up efforts to send more tourists to his country. On the second day of his five-day official visit to China, Muizzu, while addressing the ‘Maldives Business Forum’ in Fujian province on Tuesday, described China as the island nation’s “closest ally”.
He said, “Before Covid, China had the largest number of tourists visiting our country, and I request China to step up efforts to regain this position.” His appeal has come amid a diplomatic dispute with India. However, Muizzu’s government has suspended three deputy ministers for derogatory posts against Modi on social media. According to data released earlier by the Ministry of Tourism of Maldives, India remains the largest tourist market for the country in 2023. Last year, the highest number of Indian tourists arrived in Maldives at 2,09,198, followed by 2,09,146 Russian tourists and 1,87,118 Chinese tourists.
Muizzu said China is “one of our closest allies and development partners”. In his address he praised the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ (BRI) projects launched by President Xi Jinping in 2014 and said that “he (Cinfing) has delivered the most significant infrastructure projects seen in the history of the Maldives. ” He also said that his administration is committed to the prompt implementation of the free trade agreement (FTA) signed with China. He described it as a symbol of close commercial relations between the two countries. Maldives and China signed the FTA in December 2014. At that time, China’s supporter Abdullah Yameen was the President. The administration of his successor, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, did not implement the agreement.
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