Maldives

Their remarks surfaced after Prime Minister Modi promoted Lakshadweep as a tourist destination, without mentioning the Maldives.

Mohamed Muizzu, candidate of the coalition of Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and People's National Congress (PNC), and incumbent President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih have received the highest number of votes, Xinhua news agency reported, citing figures released by local media.

In Sri Lanka, the opposition parties are asking their government as to how Nasheed was made the representative at the climate change summit for a sovereign country.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has been appointed the acting President and has declared a state of emergency in the country following a standoff between police and military personnel with angry protestors which tried to enter the Prime Minister's office, the Daily Mirror reported.

President Rajapaksa fled the country for the Maldives early on Wednesday morning, along with his wife and two security officers amid mass scale protests against him in Sri Lanka, Daily Mirror reported.

Maldives was in a dire economic situation with the Chinese debt estimated to be between $1.5 billion to $3 billion. India came in to rescue Male from distress, immediately providing an economic assistance package of $1.4 billion in the form of budgetary support, currency swap agreements, and concessional lines of credit.

In a statement issued by the President's Office on Sunday, he said: "I also wish to thank, on behalf of all Maldivians, our friendly bilateral partners who assisted our Covid-19 response efforts. I take this opportunity to highlight India, Japan, USA, UAE, China, Bangladesh, WHO and some of the UN agencies for their support."

The Defence Ministry has also clarified that no foreign armed forces will be active at the Uthuru Thilafalhu (UTF) base where the Coast Guard dock and dockyard of the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) is being developed. ​​​This clarification by the Defence Ministry comes after a massive “#IndiaOut” campaign being spearheaded by the opposition leader and former President Abdulla Yameen.

Yameen was accused of illegally receiving 1 million US dollars to his personal account from a private company and convicted for money laundering by the criminal court in November 2019. He was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay 5 million dollars in compensation to the state. Yameen's conviction was upheld by the Higher Court, after which his defence appealed to the Supreme Court.

"The Tri-lateral Focused Operations, between India-Sri Lanka-Maldives commenced at Sea from 27-28 November 2021. The exercise under the aegis of Colombo Security Conclave (CSC) is a pioneering effort to collaborate efforts towards the Pillar of Maritime Security," Indian High Commission in Colombo said in a statement.