Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the Vice President of Maldives, Hussain Mohamed Latheef, on Saturday.
PM Modi said that during the meeting, they discussed the key pillars of India-Maldives friendship, such as technology, infrastructure, energy, and climate change.
Reflecting upon the meeting, PM Modi looked forward to deepening the ties in the years to come.
He wrote on X, “Had a very good meeting with Vice President Uz. Hussain Mohamed Latheef. Our discussion touched upon key pillars of the India-Maldives friendship. Our nations continue to work closely in sectors like infrastructure, technology, climate change, energy and more. This is greatly beneficial to our people. We look forward to deepening this partnership in the years to come.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in the Maldives at the invitation of President Mohamed Muizzu. He is the guest of honour for the 60th Independence Day celebrations in the country.
On Friday, while speaking at the banquet hosted in his honour, PM Modi emphasised the depth of the bilateral relationship.
He said, “India-Maldives relations are centuries old. We are neighbours, partners and true friends who stand together in times of need. Maldives holds a special place in India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy… This is not just diplomacy but a relation of deep affinity.”
President Mohamed Muizzu praised PM Modi’s leadership and reaffirmed the strong ties between India and the Maldives.
“India has long stood as the Maldives’s closest and most trusted partner. Our collaboration spans a wide range of areas, from security and trade to healthcare, education and beyond, touching the everyday lives of our citizens,” Muizzu said.
On Friday, during a special press briefing, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri had remarked, “This very timely and productive visit has provided an opportunity to both countries and both leaders to review our very close cooperation and to continue to build further on it. The two sides, reviewed the joint vision for the India-Maldives Comprehensive Economic and Maritime Security Partnership, and as a result of the discussions today, arrived at the conclusion that we should continue to implement various elements of this vision, and explore newer avenues to collaborate further between the two sides.”
India and the Maldives exchanged eight key agreements on Friday, covering a wide range of sectors, including a Line of Credit, debt repayment, fisheries, digital transformation, and the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu. (ANI)
