NEW DELHI: India and the Maldives today signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Unified Payments Interface (UPI). The pact was inked alongside an event to inaugurate development projects ahead of the meeting of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Maldivian counterpart Moosa Zameer at Male.
Jaishankar, who kicked off his three-day visit to the Maldives on Friday, said, “I hope that we will soon see the first UPI transaction here. I should mention that it will have a very positive impact on tourism.”
The visit is aimed at resetting the bilateral relationship with the Maldives as ties between the two nations came under severe strain since Muizzu, known for his pro-China leanings, took charge of the top office in November 2023.
Jaishankar and Zameer inaugurated a mental health unit, a speech therapy unit, education support unit, streetlights in different towns and atolls.
An MoU between the National Centre for Good Governance and the Civil Service Commission for 1,000 additional slots for training Maldivian civil servants was also renewed on the occasion.
Besides the high impact community development projects inaugurated today, India will hand over water and sewerage projects across 28 islands in the Maldives.
Jaishankar would be meeting the Madives Minister of Economic Development and the Minister of Finance tomorrow. He would also meet the Defence Minister tomorrow to take stock of the mutual defence and security engagement. The EAM added that India would also be hosting the third ‘Voice of the Global South’ Summit.