Indian Minister Jaishankar meets Maldives FM

Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met his Maldives counterpart, Abdullah Shahid, for discussions on bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest this week.

"A warm welcome to FM Abdulla Shahid of Maldives. The India-Maldives special partnership grows deeper by the day," he said.

The Maldives' Foreign Minister will deliver the 43rd Sapru House Lecture at the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) in New Delhi. Maldives is India's key maritime neighbour in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and occupies a special place in the Prime Minister's vision of 'SAGAR' (Security and Growth for All in the Region) and the 'Neighbourhood First Policy'.

"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," the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

Last month, Union Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan and Abdulla Shahid attended the ceremony for the exchange of 10 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) between India and Maldives in Male. Recently, India and Maldives also held a Joint Exercise Ekuverin concluded after intense validation training.

(ANI)