EAM Jaishankar arrives in Maldives on first visit since January 2023

Male: External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar arrived in Maldives Friday evening on an official three-day visit, his first since assuming the office for a second term in June.

He had previously visited Maldives in January 2023.

"Pleased to arrive in Maldives. Thank Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer for receiving me at the airport. Maldives occupies an important place in our vision of 'Neighbourhood First' & 'SAGAR'. Looking forward to fruitful engagements with the leadership," the EAM said in a post on X after his arrival.

Both countries are expected to look afresh at their ties which have been strained since President Mohamed Muizzu came to power in the strategically-significant Indian Ocean archipelago, last year.

The visit, said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday, is aimed at strengthening the close partnership between the two countries and to explore avenues to enhance the bilateral relationship further.

EAM Jaishankar will pay a courtesy call on the President of the Maldives and will also hold talks with his Maldivian counterpart to review the existing bilateral cooperation.

"Both ministers will inaugurate the completed projects under the High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDP) and Line of Credit facility of EXIM Bank of India and witness the exchange of Memorandum of Understanding on areas for capacity building, commerce and trade," the Maldives Foreign Ministry stated on Thursday.

Zameer had travelled to New Delhi in May on his first official visit to India since assuming office following the complete withdrawal of Indian troops from the archipelago in the Indian Ocean.

Muizzu also recently visited New Delhi for the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his council of ministers.

"Our cooperation has also enhanced the security and well-being of your country through shared activities, equipment provisioning, capacity building and training. It is in our common interest that we reach an understanding on how best we take our relationship forward," EAM Jaishankar said during his meeting with Zameer on May 9.

New Delhi has also time and again reminded Maldives that it has been a key provider of development assistance to the island nation and several projects funded by India have benefited the lives of thousands of people in the country.

In spite of the recent sour ties between the two neighbouring countries, India had announced limited exports of essential goods including sugar, wheat, rice, onions and eggs as a goodwill gesture to Maldives.