Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar reached Maldives on Friday evening on a three-day official visit to reset bilateral relations with Maldives. This is the first high-level visit from India to the archipelagic country after pro-China President Mohammad Muizzu took office last year. S. Jaishankar said on Friday that India’s partnership with Maldives is based on a deep desire to work together for each other’s welfare and interests. He emphasized that relations with Mali are one of the cornerstones of India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy.
His visit to Maldives comes a few weeks after President Muizzu visited India to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in June.
After talks with his Maldivian counterpart Musa Jamir, Jaishankar told a media, ‘India’s partnership with Maldives is based on our deep desire to work together for each other’s welfare and interests. It is a partnership that has always enabled us to respond to challenges swiftly and effectively as has been seen in the past.
He said, ‘Maldives is one of the cornerstones of our ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy, it is important for our ‘Vision Sagar’ as well as our commitment to the ‘Global South’. To put it briefly in the words of Prime Minister Narendra Modi – India’s neighborhood is a priority and Maldives in its neighborhood is a priority.
Jaishankar said, ‘We also share the closest bonds of history and kinship.’ Relations between India and Maldives had soured after Muizzu, considered pro-China, took charge of the top office in November 2023.
First official visit to Maldives
Jaishankar said that this visit is an opportunity to review the achievements made by both the countries together and prepare an aspirational blueprint for the coming years.
This is Jaishankar’s first official visit to Maldives after assuming office for a second term in June 2024. His last visit was in January 2023.
Jaishankar’s three-day visit till August 11 is being held at the invitation of his Maldives counterpart Musa Jamir. Jaishankar will meet President Muizzu on Saturday.