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Mohamed Muizzu, the current president of the Maldives, won the island nation's top seat in 2023 on the backs of the "India Out" campaign, which called for the expulsion of Indian military personnel deployed in the archipelago and reconsidering close ties with New Delhi in favour of other nations like China. Three years later, in 2026, Muizzu is praising a New Delhi-backed infrastructure project as a symbol of the "close, enduring relationship between the Maldives and India".

It is quite the about-face for the first-time president, who oversaw a dramatic chilling of hitherto warm ties between New Delhi and Male. Yet, with India not only continuing to be the largest source of economic assistance for the Indian Ocean archipelago, but also overseeing what some have described as one the island nation's most important infrastructure projects, it is hardly a surprise.

Muizzu's latest remarks came during an inspection of the under-construction Thilamale Bridge. According to a press release issued by the President's Office of the Republic of the Maldives, Muizzu described it as a symbol of the enduring ties between New Delhi and Male.