Immediately after taking the oath of office as Maldives' seventh president, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih hinted at the country's new foreign policy which would look to move away from China to neighbours India.
Addressing the parliament after being sworn in at the national football stadium in the capital Male on Saturday, the veteran lawmaker in the presence of visiting India Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Solih insisted that he would be the medium through which Maldives would improve relations with its neighbours.
"We will endeavour to fortify the existing ties the Maldives has had with India and other regional countries. The Maldives will hereupon bolster its shared role to retain enduring peace and harmony of the Indian Ocean," Solih said.
Solih also said the foreign policy of the Maldives will be fundamentally hinged on advancing policies that have a stake in the progress and welfare of our home.
"My government's foreign policy will be formulated on the basis of human rights, democracy and climate diplomacy," he added.
He said Maldives was open and willing to establish diplomatic relations, and strengthen existing ties with all countries that wish to form mutually beneficial development partnerships.
Maldives has remained strategically key to in the battle between India and China for regional supremacy.
Bilateral ties between India and Maldives had soured after the now defeated Maldives president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom in February declared state of emergency following an order by the country’s Supreme Court to release a group of opposition leaders convicted in widely criticized trials.
India has also been irked by Yameen's government turning to China to realize his ambitious infrastructure development plans. Beijing has provided loans to fund several major infrastructure projects including a landmark bridge connecting the capital Male to the airport island Hulhule.
Modi's presence signals the end of years of frosty relations because of Yameen's embrace of China, a relationship that had deepened India's anxieties about being encircled by countries leaning towards Beijing.
Maldives was 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.
Modi is scheduled to attend the official banquet on Saturday evening before his departure from the archipelago.
