Oct 06, Kathmandu- The President of the Maldives, Mohamed Muizzu, left for a state visit to India with First Lady Sajidha Mohamed on Sunday, the President's Office said. This is Muizzu's first bilateral tour to India.

"President Dr. M. Muizzu and First Lady Sajidha Mohamed left for a state visit to the Republic of India", the President's Office of the Maldives said on social network X, "This visit took place at the invitation of the President of India Draupadi Murmu and this is the first bilateral visit of President Muizzu to India." '

On the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly in New York recently, Muizzu said that he is planning to visit India as soon as possible. He also praised the "very strong" bilateral relationship between the two countries.

This will be the second time that Muizzu has visited India this year. Earlier, he visited India for the swearing-in ceremony of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last June.

Earlier, almost every president of the Maldives used to visit India for the first time abroad, but Muizzu broke this tradition by first visiting Turkey and then China after taking office.

In the Maldives, the Mohammad Muizzu government has adopted a conciliatory approach after a diplomatic dispute arose due to the deterioration of relations with India.

After coming to power, Muizzu has taken some unconventional steps from the point of view of India-Maldives relations. During the presidential election, he ran his campaign as 'India Out'. His party's main election campaign was to remove Indian soldiers from the Maldives.