Deeply touched by Muizzu's gesture, writes Narendra Modi on X after arriving in Male

He wrote on X: "Landed in Malé. Deeply touched by the gesture of President Muizzu to come to the airport to welcome me. I am confident that India-Maldives friendship will scale new heights of progress in the times to come."

Modi also met Indian diaspora members in the country.

He said: "The Indian diaspora plays a crucial role in furthering friendship between India and the Maldives. Happy to have interacted with members of the diaspora and I thank them for the warm welcome."

Modi arrived in the Maldives after concluding his UK visit.

Significantly, Modi was welcomed by Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu at the airport at a time the two countries have come close to each other in a bid to recover the strained bilateral ties.

Chants of "Vande Mataram" and "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" were heard as the Indian Prime Minister arrived.

He also received a warm welcome from the Indian diaspora.

Diplomatic tension

The diplomatic tension between the countries brewed over the changing strategic alignment in the Indian Ocean region after pro-China Mohamed Muizzu became the Maldives President in 2023.

Muizzu had demanded the withdrawal of Indian troops in Maldives leading New Delhi to cautiously deal with the tiff.

A social media conflict between the two nations started after Prime Minister Modi travelled to Lakshadweep and captured some photos on the beach in a bid widely viewed as a promotion of the union territory as a travel destination as an alternative to the Maldives, which has remained a favourite spot for Bollywood celebrities.

A widespread call to boycott Maldives tourism grew in a backlash when the Prime Minister's Lakshadweep photos were mocked in Malé.

Over the course of time, India withdrew its troops in the Maldives.