. Maldives’ newly elected President Mohammed Muizzu(Muizzu)

Male. Maldives’ newly elected President Mohammed Muizzu  (Muizzu) has adopted a strategy of presenting Maldives as a small but strategically strong country after his victory. Moijju, who is considered pro-China, has reiterated his resolve to end foreign military presence in the country. Addressing his first public rally since his election victory on Saturday, 45-year-old Muizzu did not mention India, the only foreign power with military deployment in the archipelago, by name. Muizzu said at a rally in the capital Male on Monday night that ‘we will send back the military forces present in Maldives as per the law and we will definitely do so accordingly.’

Maldives President-elect Mohamed Moizzu said that ‘the people who brought in … did not want to send back the military force, but the people of Maldives decided.’ Outgoing President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih reiterated the country’s close ties with traditional protector India. Was established from. Whereas his predecessor Abdulla Yameen had made Maldives close to Beijing by taking huge loans from China for infrastructure projects. Moizzu is considered a proxy for Yameen, who was barred from contesting last month’s election due to a criminal conviction for corruption.

Within hours of his victory, Moizzu secured the release of Yameen, who was serving an 11-year prison sentence in the high-security Maafushi prison, and was placed under house arrest in Male. Muijju is also currently the mayor of Male. He rejected media reports of him being a pro-China leader and said that he is ‘pro-Maldives’. Moijju said that ‘My first priority will be Maldives and its situation. We will choose to be pro-Maldives. Any country which respects and follows our pro-Maldives policy is considered a close friend of Maldives.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first leaders to congratulate Muizzu on Sunday. PM Modi posted on social media platform Respects the choice. Beijing’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that China is willing to work with the Maldives to strengthen traditional friendship, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation and continuously pursue new progress.