Jaishankar concludes ‘productive’ visit to the Maldives

Male, Mar 27 (PTI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday concluded his “productive” visit to the Maldives during which he held discussions with the country’s top leadership on wide ranging issues related to bilateral cooperation.

“Completed a productive visit to Addu, Maldives. Thank President @ibusolih and Foreign Minister @abdulla_shahid,” he tweeted. In another tweet, Jaishankar said he is “leaving Addu with so many warm memories”. During his visit here, Jaishankar called on President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and held discussions with Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid on wide ranging issues related to bilateral cooperation. He also inaugurated a number of India-supported projects and firm up several agreements to further bolster bilateral cooperation.

Tweeting a video clip, Jaishankar said, “For those who want to see Indian project delivery abroad now, see the clip on the Maldives Police Academy inaugurated today.” The Maldives is one of India’s key maritime neighbours in the Indian Ocean region and the bilateral defence and security ties have been on an upward trajectory in the last few years.

From Maldives, Jaishankar visited Sri Lanka as part of his five-day two-nation tour to the two key maritime neighbours of India to explore the possibilities of further expansion of bilateral engagements. In Sri Lanka, Jaishankar will hold bilateral talks with the country’s top leadership and attend the seven-nation BIMSTEC summit.

This will be his first visit to the island nation since India extended an economic relief package to bail Sri Lanka out of the current economic crisis. Besides India and Sri Lanka, the BIMSTEC comprises Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan.

PTI SCY ZH SCY