NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will hold meeting with Maldives Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Abdulla Khaleel in New Delhi on Friday.
The meeting is scheduled to be held at 12:30 pm. Maldivian FM Khaleel is on a two-day visit to India. He arrived in New Delhi on Thursday evening.
The relations between India and Maldives continue to bolster with Khaleel’s arrival. In reaction to his visit, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, “working towards India-Maldives joint vision of a ‘Comprehensive Economic & Maritime Security Partnership’”.
Recently, the ties between the two countries have started flourishing again after Maldives President Mohammed Muizzu’s first bilateral visit to India in October last year.
Earlier, in August last year, following EAM Jaishankar’s visit to Maldives, Muizzu had expressed gratitude for India’s assistance following New Delhi’s rollover of $50 million payment due. Muizzu also declared India as “true friend”.
During Muizzu’s first bilateral visit to India, both the countries signed two currency swap agreements amounting to nearly Rs 6,300 crore to tide over the foreign exchange crisis in Maldives. Muizzu reiterated his “true friend” promise to India during that visit, which came 11 months after he rode to power in his country on an “India out” campaign. On assuming power, he had asked Indian military personnel to leave the nation and had opted to visit Turkiye and China, breaking away from the tradition of touring India first.
The successive visits of high-end leaders between the two countries shows the improved relations between the two countries. Now, the focus is on strengthening bilateral ties, debt relief and economic cooperation.