India media attention to poster welcoming Maldives Pres Muizzu

President Muizzu's visit has received a lot of attention from the Indian media as he is headed to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a third consecutive term on Monday.

New Delhi is preparing to welcome the heads of state of neighbouring countries who will attend Monday's ceremony.

While boards are being put up to welcome the leaders, a picture of a board installed to welcome President Muizzu was shown on the NDTV website, saying that India is ready to give a warm welcome to President Muizzu despite the tensions between the two countries.

The board with pictures of Modi and Muizzu reads "Welcome to India" outside the External Affairs Ministry.

Indian media described the invitation to President Muizzu as an initiative to end tensions between the two countries.

The President left for India on Sunday evening and will arrive in New Delhi at 9 am on Monday, according to the External Affairs Ministry website.

Relations between Maldives and India have been strained since this government came to power.

The government's demand to withdraw Indian troops from Maldives and three Maldivian deputy ministers' remarks attributed to Modi sparked outrage among the Indian government and the public.

India even launched a massive campaign on social media calling for tourists to boycott Maldives.

Muizzu said his visit to India to attend Modi’s swearing-in ceremony for a third term symbolises that relations between the two countries are moving in a positive direction.

This is President Muizzu's first visit to India since taking office. Usually, all the elected Presidents of Maldives make their first official visit to India after taking office.

However, President Muizzu went to Turkey on his first official visit. He also made his first state visit to China.

Under India's Neighborhood First policy, special invitations to the Prime Minister's swearing-in ceremony have been sent to the heads of state of India's neighbouring countries as well as the heads of state of the Indian Ocean region.

According to the external affairs ministry's website, apart from President Muizzu, other presidents invited to attend Modi’s third swearing-in ceremony are:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be sworn in on Sunday. After the ceremony, the heads of state will attend an official banquet hosted by Indian President Droupadi Murmu.