India pledges continued support to Maldives at meeting with visiting minister
Hindustan TimesNEW DELHI: India on Friday pledged its continued support for the Maldives as the Indian Ocean archipelago grapples with economic issues, signalling a growing thaw in bilateral relations that went through a rough patch last year. Jaishankar said there had been some important and positive developments since Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu’s visit to India last October At a meeting with his visiting Maldivian counterpart Abdulla Khaleel, external affairs minister S Jaishankar reiterated the importance India attaches to bilateral ties and “assured continued support to Maldives under India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy”, the external affairs ministry said in a statement. Jaishankar noted that there had been “some important positive developments” in bilateral relations since Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu’s visit to India last October, when the two sides agreed on a comprehensive economic and maritime security partnership to deepen ties. For us, you are a very concrete expression of our ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy,” Jaishankar said, pointing to the assistance extended by India last year to help the Indian Ocean state cope with a debt crisis. The external affairs ministry said Jaishankar and Khaleel reviewed progress in implementing the understandings reached during Muizzu’s visit last October.