India: India in Maldives: As his tour concludes, EAM Jaishankar shares highlights of ‘productive visit’ to Maldives India-Maldives bilateral ties on Sunday marked a major improvement. Apart from launching six High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDP), Jaishankar signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) for capacity building in Male. India is providing funds for the programmes, which focus on issues such as street lighting, special schooling and mental health. Jaishankar met Maldives President Mohamed Muizzo and congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Muizzo expressed gratitude for India’s continued development assistance and pledged to further strengthen India-Maldives friendship. The inauguration of India’s Line of Credit (LoC)-aided project, which involves water and sewage network across 28 Maldives islands, was a key highlight.
‘Conceived by Maldives, implemented by India’
MoUs were exchanged on capacity building of an additional 1,000 Maldivian civil servants in India and the launch of UPI in the Maldives. On Monday, Jaishankar shared a vlog of his Maldives visit, which comes a year after Muizzu demanded that India withdraw its troops from the island nation, which could sour ties between Male and Delhi. “Concluded a productive visit to the Maldives! Realising the message of our relationship: ‘Conceived by Maldives, implemented by India’,” External Affairs Minister Jaishankar wrote. Maldives Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer and the foreign minister held talks about strengthening their defence and security cooperation. Meetings with the Governor of the Maldives Monetary Authority and the Ministers of Finance and Economic Development and Commerce were aimed at strengthening economic and commercial ties. Jaishankar’s visit also included meetings with a delegation led by Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) President Abdulla Shahid.
