Jaishankar’s Maldives visit signals further thaw in bilateral ties

In a sign of further thawing of ties between India and the Maldives, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar met Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu and other top officials in Male during a three-day visit to the African nation over the weekend.

Jaishankar assured Male that New Delhi attached top priority to their multifaceted bilateral relationship and was determined to further India’s developmental cooperation with that country.

The external affairs minister’s visit comes after Muizzu visited India in June at the invitation of New Delhi to join in the oath-taking of the third term of the Modi government.

The visit is also the first such high-level trip from New Delhi after the island nation’s pro-China president, Muizzu, assumed office in November last year.

During the visit, Jaishankar officially handed over a $110 million India-funded water and sewerage project in 28 islands of the Maldives that is expected to benefit 28,000 citizens.

The projects include water supply facilities on 22 islands, sewerage facilities on two islands, and combined water supply and sewerage facilities on four islands. These projects were carried out under a line of credit facility of  $800 million, signed with India’s EXIM Bank in 2019.

The completed projects were officially handed over by Jaishankar to  Maldivian minister of foreign affairs Moosa Zameer.

Jaishankar also inaugurated other projects, including developing Addu City through various infrastructure projects.

India has completed and inaugurated three projects, including a reclamation project, a beach protection project, and the construction of the Hankendi Bridge, also known as the Addu detour link bridge.

These projects were funded under the Indian line of credit, with the total value of these initiatives estimated at around $220 million.

Jaishankar also co-inaugurated a mental health unit, a speech therapy center, an education support unit, and street lights in different towns and atolls, among other things.

Indian cooperation with the Maldives is considered a counterbalance to Chinese influence in the region.

Jaishankar said, “In the words of Prime Minister Narendra Modi – for India, neighborhood is a priority and, in the neighborhood, Maldives is a priority.”

He added that his visit presented an opportunity to take stock of what both countries have achieved together and chart out an aspirational blueprint for the coming years of what both countries are confident will be a truly multifaceted partnership.

Stating that Maldives is one of the cornerstones of India’s ‘Neighborhood First’ policy, he added that it is also one of our Vision SAGAR and our commitment to the Global South. Vision SAGAR is an acronym for Security and Growth for All in the Region, an initiative launched by India in 2015 emphasizing the importance of maritime security and the peaceful use of the Indian Ocean region.

“Our (India and Maldives) enduring partnership continues to strengthen, bringing out nations closer through cooperation in security, development and cultural exchange, together we build a brighter, more prosperous future for the region,” he added.

During the visit, which ended on Sunday, Jaishankar discussed diverse areas of cooperation with the Maldivian leadership and ways to deepen them.

He said, “As neighbors, we face common challenges and have shared interest in maintaining peace and security in the region. After all we both have very big EEZs. Our defense and security cooperation is aimed at confronting many common challenges and I look forward to fruitful discussions in that regard.”

He added that India is also focused on partnering with the Maldives for its human resource development and physical infrastructure. 

He said India, through its unified payments interface (UPI), has revolutionized digital transactions. 

“Today, 40% of the world’s real-time digital payments occur in our country,” he said, adding that signing a memorandum of understanding with with Male would be the first step towards bringing this digital innovation to the Maldives.