Male (PTI): India on Monday brushed aside reports that China was making inroads into Maldives and asserted that New Delhi's ties with Male would continue to be close even under the new democratic dispensation in the island nation.

Arriving here to represent the country at the swearing-in ceremony of new President Mohamed Nasheed tomorrow, Vice President Hamid Ansari said the "smooth transition" in Maldives following last month's elections has been "widely welcomed".

"I do not know how credible those reports are. The President-elect (Mohamed Nasheed) was in India some time back and he himself doubted those reports," Ansari told reporters as he arrived here on a two-day visit.

He was responding when asked whether India was concerned about reports that China was making inroads into Maldives.

"Our relationship with Maldives is between government and government and people-to-people. It is a relationship of closeness and it will continue," said Ansari, who is here to participate in the ceremony which will mark a major transition in Maldives' polity after a 30-year single party rule by Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

"I was very delighted that a democratic election has taken place and there was a smooth transition," he said.

Ansari was given a warm reception when he arrived at the Male International Airport and was received by Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdullah Shahid.