Over three hundred foreign dignitaries from forty six countries are expected to attend the official inauguration of the president and the vice president of the Maldives, the country's foreign ministry said Saturday ahead of the swearing in ceremony.
Ibrahim Mohamed Solih Solih is set to be sworn in a grand ceremony at the national football stadium in the capital Male later Saturday with over a thousand invitees to witness the inauguration.
Among the high-level dignitaries attending the ceremony include the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is scheduled to arrive in the Maldives on the day of the inauguration ceremony.
Maldives remains the only South Asian neighbour that Modi has not visited since taking office in 2014.
He dropped the Maldives from a 2015 tour of Indian Ocean countries because of the political situation there with massive anti-government protests and heightened tension that led to the arrest and prosecution of former president Mohamed Nasheed.
Other notable attendees include former Sri Lanka president Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and China's culture and tourism minister Luo Shugang.
"In addition, several Ambassadors, senior government officials and business leaders from different countries are expected to attend the ceremony," the statement read.
Veteran lawmaker Solih - backed by the country's foremost political leaders including former presidents Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and Mohamed Nasheed pulled off a stunning victory in the presidential elections in September defeating incumbent president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom.
