‘India out’: Maldives president eyes Middle East partners with early trips

Mohamed Muizzu broke with long tradition of Maldivian presidents visiting New Delhi first to travel to Ankara instead.

When the new Maldives president, Mohamed Muizzu, stepped on a plane in late November for his first overseas visit since being sworn in barely a week earlier, he was breaking with a longstanding tradition in his country’s diplomatic practices.

Across party lines, Maldivian presidents have long made India their first port of call after being elected, in a reflection of the South Asian giant’s traditional influence on the idyllic Indian Ocean archipelago.

But Muizzu, who became president after a raucous and divisive anti-India campaign, chose to make his first official trip to Ankara, the capital of Turkey, showcasing an intent to diversify and reorient his country’s foreign policy.

At the heart of Muizzu’s efforts is a search for new friends at a time he has made it clear that he intends to pull away from India, according to analysts and sources within the Maldives.

It “symbolises a considerable reorientation in the Maldives’s foreign relations, moving away from the longstanding view of India as an essential ally and strategic partner in the Indian Ocean region and South Asia”, Mujib Alam, a professor in international relations at New Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia university, told Al Jazeera.