Describing India as one of its “closest allies” and “invaluable partners”, Maldives President Mohamed Muizzo on Saturday reaffirmed his administration’s “full commitment” to strengthening the “historic and close ties” between the two neighbouring countries.
“India has always been one of the closest allies and invaluable partners, providing assistance to Maldives whenever it was needed,” Mr Muizzu said in presence of External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar during a ceremony held at the President’s Office, “to hand over the completed water supply and sewerage facilities on 28 islands in Maldives, funded by a Line of Credit (LoC) facility from the Government of India through Exim Bank of India.”
In his address, Mr. Muizzu highlighted that these projects are important milestones in Maldives’ bilateral relations with India and will provide significant economic benefits, boost local economies as well as contribute to the prosperity of the country.
He also expressed “deep gratitude” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Government of India and the friendly people of India for the “generous and continued support” extended to Maldives.
“The President also emphasised that the High Impact Community Development Projects under Indian grant assistance reflect the close partnership in socio-economic development of the two countries. He further said that several path-breaking initiatives are now underway under this initiative, and the plan is to accelerate their delivery to communities. He also expressed appreciation for the flexibility offered in restructuring the loan arrangement,” the President’s Office said in a statement after the ceremony.
Mr. Muizzu concluded his speech by emphasizing that centuries of friendship, mutual respect and strong spirit of kinship have nurtured the relations between Maldives and India.
“He further noted that the people of Maldives value their deep and historical ties with the people of India and are committed to preserving and enhancing it,” the statement said.
During his meeting with Mr. Jaishankar, the President of Maldives also recalled his recent visit to India to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Modi and appreciated the invitation and the opportunity to meet the Prime Minister as well as President Draupadi Murmu.
“Honoured to meet President Dr Mohamed Muizzu. Conveyed PM Narendra Modi’s good wishes. Committed to deepening India-Maldives ties for the benefit of our people and the region,” Mr Jaishankar posted after his meeting with Mr Muizzu and the virtual inauguration of water and sanitation projects across 28 Maldives islands.
Earlier, Mr Jaishankar held a bilateral meeting with Maldives Defence Minister Mohamed Ghassan Maumoon and discussed enhancing security cooperation between the two countries.
The discussions focused on joint initiatives for maritime security and the shared goal of maintaining regional peace and stability.
He also attended a symbolic tree-planting ceremony at the Lonuziyarai Park in Male along with Maldives Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer and the country’s Minister of Climate Change, Environment and Energy Thoriq Ibrahim.
Soon after his arrival from India on Friday, a ceremony was held at the Maldives Foreign Ministry to inaugurate and hand over six projects implemented under High Impact Community Development Projects under grant assistance from India, as well as exchange of MoU on Integrated Payment System between the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Maldives and the National Payments Corporation of India.
Additionally, MoUs were exchanged for renewal of MoU between the Maldives Civil Service Commission and the Indian High Commission for training 1,000 civil service officers.
Maldives Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer said, “I expressed my heartfelt appreciation to the people and Government of India for their generous support in improving the lives of the Maldivian communities. I also reiterated my commitment to continue working closely with the Government of India bilaterally, regionally and multilaterally to further strengthen and deepen relations between the two countries.”
Addressing the media, Mr Jaishankar highlighted the significance of the visit, his first to the strategically important Indian Ocean archipelago since January 2023.
He said, “Maldives is one of the pillars of our ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy, it is one of our Vision Sagar, as well as our commitment to the Global South. To summarise in the words of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, neighbourhood is a priority for India and in the neighbourhood, Maldives is a priority.”
They also emphasised the common challenges facing the two countries and the importance of their defence and security cooperation.
“As neighbours, we face similar challenges and have a shared interest in maintaining peace and security in the region. After all, we both have very large EEZs. Our defence and security cooperation is aimed at addressing many common challenges and I look forward to useful discussions in this regard,” he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
