S Jaishankar, the minister of external affairs, sent congratulations to the Maldives’ government and people on their independence day on Wednesday. Warm greetings to FM @abdulla_shahid and the Government and People of the Maldives on their Independence Day, he tweeted, addressing his Maldivian counterpart Abdulla Shahid. Keep in mind our extensive, unique, and growing friendship, Jaishankar advised. In the first few weeks of July, Indian Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid paid a two-day visit to the Maldives.
During his visit, he met his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar and held delegation-level talks. The two sides discussed several bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest. Moreover, India and Maldives also exchanged nine new Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) at that time.
“The Maldives Foreign Minister’s visit is in continuation of the series of high-level visits from both sides and is expected to lend further momentum to the substantive bilateral cooperation between the two countries,” according to the Ministry of External Affairs official release.
Maldives holds a special place in Prime Minister Modi’s vision of “SAGAR” (Security and Growth for All in the Region) and the “Neighborhood First Policy” as India’s main maritime neighbor in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). V Muraleedharan, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs, and Abdulla Shahid were present at the ceremony in Male in June of this year for the exchange of 10 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) between India and the Maldives. India and the Maldives have a strong military alliance in addition to their relationship being primarily political. A recent joint exercise between India and the Maldives, called Ekuverin, was completed after rigorous validation training.