PM Modi to attend Maldives President-elect Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's swearing-in ceremony

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accepted Maldives President-elect Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's invitation to attend the swearing-in ceremony on November 17, Raveesh Kumar, the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), said on Friday.  

Solih, 56, had earlier extended the invitation during a phone call by Modi, after Solih’s victory in the September 23 presidential elections.

Solih, the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party’s candidate, had emerged victorious over President Abdulla Yameen in the election held in September 23. Modi had also invited Solih to visit India which the president-elect had accepted the invitation.

India’s relations with the Maldives came under strain after President Yameen declared Emergency in the country on February 5, following an order by the country’s Supreme Court to release a group of Opposition leaders, who had been convicted in widely criticised trials. New Delhi had criticised the Yameen government for the imposition of the Emergency and urged it to restore the credibility of the electoral and political process by releasing political prisoners. The Emergency was lifted 45 days later.

(With PTI inputs)