Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu on Monday agreed to the setting up of an Indian consulate in Addu, his country’s southern-most atoll, marking a significant reversal from his coalition’s opposition that had forced India to put the proposal cleared by the Union cabinet in May 2021 on the back-burner.

The establishment of an Indian consulate in Addu City and a Maldivian one in Bengaluru was one of the components of the people-to-people links mapped out in the vision document for a Comprehensive Economic and Maritime Security Partnership adopted after the bilateral engagement here during Muizzu’s state visit.

This is Muizzu’s second visit to India since he assumed office in Male last November after winning the presidential elections on an “India Out” campaign that had sought to project his predecessor Ibrahim Solih as pro-India. He first visited India for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s swearing-in for the third time and has returned on a state visit; putting behind him the bitterness that his politics
had injected into the bilateral relationship.

Having burnt its fingers once, India appears to be treading cautiously this time around with the plan to set up the Addu consulate. Asked about the plan to establish the consulate in Addu City at a media briefing on the visit, foreign secretary Vikram Misri pointed to the vision document which said: “The two sides agreed to take measures to deepen these (historic bilateral) linkages and decided to work positively towards establishing a consulate of the Maldives in Bengaluru and a consulate of India in Addu City recognising that these would contribute to expansion of trade and economic cooperation and greater people-to-people contacts.”

Both leaders, Misri said, touched upon the desirability of establishing the Addu consulate. “Since this requires a fair amount of work on the ground, the two teams will get in touch and take it forward,” he added.

In the summer of 2021, when the Union cabinet cleared the proposal, Solih — faced with a #SaveAddu campaign — had gone on record stating that the Maldives had not taken any decision on opening an Indian consulate in Addu. The #SaveAddu campaign rekindled the “India Out” movement that then gathered steam to oust Solih two-and-a-half years later.

The #SaveAddu campaign questioned the need for an Indian consulate in Addu as not many Indians live on the atoll or travel to it as tourists; leading to the apprehension of a security agenda given India’s increased surveillance of the Indian Ocean.

Another key decision on Monday was the currency swap agreement where the Maldives will be allowed to avail a $400-million window and a separate ₹30-billion window to bolster the atoll nation’s foreign exchange reserves. “It generates confidence in the Maldives’ existing foreign exchange position and allows them to enter into deals or discussions where they require this enhanced foreign exchange that they can draw on. The idea is to signal confidence and comfort in the existing foreign exchange position for the Maldives,” Misri said.

Also, according to the foreign secretary, India will undertake the repair and refit of the Maldivian Coast Guard ship Huravee, which was gifted to the Maldives a few years ago. The refit will be carried out in India “on gratis basis”, he said when asked if Indian military personnel will be sent to Maldives to repair and refit the ship.

As for the possibility of Indian military personnel returning to the Maldives to man the aviation platforms given by India, Misri indicated that there is no revisiting the issue as of now; that it is a matter resolved to the satisfaction of both countries. Voted to power on the promise that he would not allow any Indian military personnel in the Maldives, Muizzu’s first order of business in office was to request India to withdraw them from the archipelago. He set deadlines and after negotiations, India replaced them with technical personnel.