Pro-China Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu's party has won an absolute majority in the elections in the Maldives in what is seen as a setback for India. However, experts do not believe this to be an anti-India vote and New Delhi has lost all leverage in the island nation.
People saw the victory of Muizzu's PNC as an anti-India vote because he himself won the presidential election in September 2023 on an 'India Out' campaign and has been pushing to get a handful of Indian soldiers stationed in the country back to India.
Muizzu is pro-China in his policies and has tried to lessen the country's dependence on neighbour India. From domestic to international media, everyone read the parliamentary election results in the Maldives as a setback for India.
"The current Parliament was obstructing the appointment of three ministers that President Mohamed Muizzu wanted. The people must have wanted to give the President a bigger mandate to carry out the changes he wants to," says Smruti Pattnaik.
MUIZZU AND HIS 'INDIA OUT' CAMPAIGN
Muizzu has called China "One of the closest allies and developmental partners of the Maldives". This was also the first time that a Maldivian president skipped India as the first port of call after being elected.
INDIA CONTINUES AID AND INVESTMENT IN MALDIVES