India and Maldives, though not connected by land, share a deep and strategically significant maritime relationship. One that places the Maldives at the heart of India’s Neighbourhood First and MAHASAGAR vision. The upcoming State visit to the Maldives by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi from July 25–26 on being invited by President, Dr. Mohamed Muizzu will be his third visit to the island nation since 2014 but the first visit since President Muizzu took office in November 2023. PM Modi will also be the guest of honour at the Maldives’ Independence Day celebrations on July 26, which marks both 60 years of the country’s independence and six decades of diplomatic relations between India and Maldives. The visit is slated to hold discussions on issues of mutual interest and take stock of the progress in the implementation of the India-Maldives Joint Vision for a Comprehensive Economic and Maritime Security Partnership.

The visit comes at a time of gradual recovery in bilateral ties. In the initial months of his Presidency, Muizzu’s decisions were clouded by anti-India rhetoric that marked his campaign. From his ‘India Out campaign’ to requesting Indian military personnel to withdraw from the Maldives to the diplomatic row, which was hyped by the media, the relations suffered a setback. And this is not the first time that anti-India sentiments were pushed. The first-time such sentiments surfaced was in 2013 and again in 2020. Yet, relations received attention with Muizzu visiting New Delhi twice in 2024 - first for PM Modi’s swearing-in ceremony in June, and then again for a state visit in October, suggesting a degree of flexibility in foreign policy once in office.

Throughout this period of diplomatic unease, India maintained a steady and measured response. It continued to disburse financial support, including $100 million through treasury bills and a $400 million line of credit. Additionally, India extended a bilateral currency swap facility worth ₹3,000 crore to help the Maldives manage external payment obligations. These steps were framed as a part of a broader Comprehensive Economic and Maritime Security Partnership, which was launched during Muizzu’s visit to India in October 2024, which is also expected to be part of the discussions during Modi’s upcoming visit.

PM Modi’s visit is expected to build on this economic and maritime security partnership. According to officials involved in preparations, key areas of focus will include expanding the reach of India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in the Maldives, exploring direct digital connectivity for public services, and designing ways to boost bilateral tourism. India and Maldives have an existing Currency Swap Agreement which was signed in 2019 and the RuPay card services, which were launched with the signing of the agreement between National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and the Bank of Maldives (BML). Additionally, India has been facilitating subscription of several such treasury bills by the SBI and rolling them over, annually, interest-free to the government of Maldives as emergency financial assistance since 2019. The most recent one being in May 2025 when India offered a Government Treasure Bill of $50 million to support the nation in its fiscal reform efforts towards economic stability. Even for this years’ budgetary allocations, India increased allocations for Maldives to ₹600 crores from the previous ₹470 crore.

In recent years, India has been one of the top source markets for Maldivian tourism. In 2018 and 2019, bilateral agreements were signed on the facilitation of visa arrangements. Following these agreements, both in 2021 and 2022, Indian tourists ranked first among international arrivals (2020 marked a decline due to Covid-19 restrictions). Also, in 2020, an air travel bubble was established under which over 45 flights were operating per week between the two countries. As a result, the government in Male has stated its intention to attract more Indian visitors, with discussions underway on easing visa policies and promoting joint tourism packages.

Other likely topics for discussion include renewable energy, fisheries cooperation, and infrastructure development. India has been a major contributor to Maldivian infrastructure through both grants and concessional credit. The Greater Male Connectivity Project, for instance, is the largest infrastructure initiative India has ever supported in a neighbouring country. As of 2023, India had committed over $2 billion in development assistance to the Maldives through a combination of grants and credit lines. In the past years, two projects have received immediate attention - the water and sanitation project, which exists across 34 islands of the country, and roads and reclamation. While the contract for construction of roads in Addu has been finalised, India has also committed to expanding Hanimadhoo airport and developing the Gulifalhu Port.

Security cooperation will be a more delicate topic, but it is unlikely to be left out of the conversation entirely. In the past, India has granted technical support, provided naval or maritime vessels and installed coastal surveillance systems and gifted a patrol vessel named KAAMIYAB to the Maldives in 2019. The advanced light helicopters and Dornier aircrafts were provided upon Maldivian government’s request to facilitate the Maldivian army’s capabilities. The Maldives remains a part of the Colombo Security Conclave, a trilateral grouping with India and Sri Lanka that focuses on maritime domain awareness and disaster response coordination. India is expected to push for making such platforms more operationally effective, particularly against the backdrop of growing concerns over trafficking, radicalisation, and the presence of external naval forces in the Indian Ocean.

This visit also carries important symbolic value. The Maldivian President’s Office has called the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations a moment of “profound significance,” and PM Modi’s presence at the independence day ceremony underscores the importance of the occasion. More importantly, because India was among the first to recognise Maldives independence in 1965 and established diplomatic relations. The upcoming visit seems designed to maintain diplomatic momentum during what has been a somewhat sensitive phase in bilateral relations. Over the past year, it has become increasingly clear that while political narratives may shift with electoral cycles, the structural dependencies between the two countries remain largely intact. India continues to be among the Maldives’ largest development partners, while Maldives occupies a strategic location in the Indian Ocean that is central to India’s maritime posture.

The visit’s real impact lies in the quieter, cumulative gains. The focus on digital infrastructure, economic recovery, and people-to-people linkages points to a pragmatic recalibration of the relationship. Most importantly, the two sides will take stock of the economic and maritime security partnership, and the latter is very important for the peace and stability in the Indian Ocean region. As both governments juggle evolving domestic and regional priorities, consistent leadership-level engagement could help avoid the kinds of misunderstandings that have surfaced in the recent past and enable the two sides work on mutual interest and benefits.

This article is authored by Cchavi Vasisht, associate fellow and Nandini Bhatnagar, research analyst, Chintan Research Foundation, New Delhi.