Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday congratulated Mohamed Muizzu on being elected as the President of the Maldives and said New Delhi “remains committed to strengthening the time-tested India-Maldives bilateral relationship and enhancing our overall cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region.”

“Congratulations and greetings to @MMuizzu on being elected as President of the Maldives. India remains committed to strengthening the time-tested India-Maldives bilateral relationship and enhancing our overall cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region,” Modi said in a post on X, hours after the election results were announced.

Muiz, considered pro-China unlike Mohd Solih, under whose leadership India-Maldives ties scaled new heights, won the presidential poll run-off securing more than 53% of the vote.

Muizzu, a former housing minister, played a key role in an earlier government’s development programme, partially funded by China’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.

He had reportedly told a meeting with Chinese Communist Party officials last year that his party’s return to office would “script a further chapter of strong ties between our two countries”.

The coalition backing Muizzu has launched an “India out” campaign, promising to remove a small Indian military presence but Solih insisted the Indian military was present was in the island nation for construction of a dockyard under an agreement between New Delhi and Male.