PM Narendra Modi back at work, engages Maldives Prez Muizzu at President’s banquet

As soon as the swearing-in ceremony was over and Modi 3.0 had begun, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was back on the job and had a detailed conversation with Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu at the dinner table during Rashtrapati Bhawan banquet late on Sunday evening.

It is learnt that President Muizzu was seated next to PM Modi as the Indian PM was seen having a serious conversation with the Maldivian head of state. Muizzu visited India seven months after taking over as President on November 17, which is seen as an unusually long time for a Maldivian President. Muizzu ran his election campaign on the “Out India” slogan but the matters got complicated as his junior ministers started making controversial statements on India.

While Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe is expected to depart for Colombo by noon, other leaders will hold meetings with the External Affairs Minister (still to be announced) and later call on President Draupadi Murmu. President Muizzu and other visiting dignitaries like Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Nepal Prime Minister Prachanda, Bhutan Tshering Tobgay, Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth and Seychelles Vice President Ahmed Affif will also be holding meetings with External Affairs Minister calling on them and then all the dignitaries meeting the Indian President.

While all these leaders were personally invited by PM Modi for his third term, the common factor facing all of them is the rise of Communist China on the northern borders and in the Indian Ocean Region. The rapidly expanding Chinese Navy and its increasing forays into the Indian Ocean will create friction in future with no less than two surveillance cum spy ships still in the IOR.

That the Chinese chose to warn India after PM Modi merely accepted the greetings on his re-election from Taiwan President shows how prickly the Xi Jinping regime has become. Chinese propaganda media also tried to drive a wedge between India and US ties by saying that the Biden administration should reconsider its bilateral relations with Delhi as PM Modi’s party had not achieved simple majority seats in 2024 polls.