Malé, Maldives – Minister of Extrnal Affairs of India Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has arrived in Maldives on an official visit on Saturday afternoon.
The Indian Minister was received at Velana International Airport by his Maldivian counterpart, Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ahmed Khaleel, Foreign Secretary Abdul Gafoor Mohamed, and Maldivian High Commissioner to India Dr. Hussain Niyaz.
Minister Jaishankar arrived in Maldives at the invitation of Foreign Minister Shahid. It marks his second official visit to Maldives, following his visit to attend the 5th Indian Ocean Conference back in 2019.
According to the Maldivian Foreign Ministry, Jaishankar, during his visit, will inaugurate some projects undertaken with Indian grant assistance and witness the exchange of several agreements and MOUs between the two countries.
He is also scheduled to call on Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Parliament Speaker and former President Mohamed Nasheed, and also hold meetings with Shahid and Minister of Defense Mariya Ahmed Didi.
The Minister is also to take part in a joint meeting with Minister of Finance Ibrahim Ameer, Minister of Economic Development Fayyaz Ismail, and Minister of National Planning, Housing and Infrastructure Mohamed Aslam.
Jaishankar’s visit comes two months after India, Maldives and Sri Lanka held the 4th trilateral meeting on Maritime and Security Cooperation in which New Delhi was represented by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. The meeting was held in Colombo. India sees Maldives as a key maritime neighbour and has been seeking to forge deeper ties with the country to bolster New Delhi’s Indo-Pacific initiative.
