PM Modi Congratulates Mohamed Muizzu on Election as Maldives President

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday congratulated opposition candidate Mohamed Muizzu on being elected as president of the Maldives. In a post on X, the Prime Minister said India remains committed to strengthening the time-tested relationship with the Maldives and enhancing the overall cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region.

Muiz won the Maldives presidential runoff on Saturday, securing more than 53 percent of the vote. “India remains committed to strengthening the time-tested India-Maldives bilateral relationship and enhancing our overall cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region.,” PM Modi wrote on X. Muizzu defeated incumbent Mohamed Solih to become president of the island nation.

The election has turned into a virtual referendum on which regional power will have the biggest influence in the Indian Ocean archipelago nation, according to The Associated Press. Incumbent President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih had received 46 percent of the vote and Muiz had won by more than 18,000 votes, according to Mihaaru News. Official results were expected on Sunday.

“With today’s result we have got the opportunity to build the country’s future. The strength to ensure the freedom of Maldives,” Muiz said in a statement after his victory, according to AP. “It’s time we put our differences aside and come together. We need to be a peaceful society.”

Neither Muiz nor Solih got more than 50 percent in the first round of voting earlier in September. An engineer, Muiz had served as the housing minister for seven years. He was mayor of Male, the capital, when he was chosen to run for president.

Solih suffered a setback closer to the election when Mohamed Nasheed broke away from his Maldivian Democratic Party and fielded his own candidate in the first round. He decided to remain neutral in the second round. The Maldives is made up of 1,200 coral islands in the Indian Ocean located by the main shipping route between the East and the West.

(With agency inputs)