Jaishankar's Maldives trip to prepare for Muizzu's likely India visit in September

External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Friday reached Maldives with an eye on preparing President Md Muizzu's probable state visit to India next month as Male looks to repair ties with New Delhi.

Muizzu had visited India in June for the swearing-in ceremony of the Modi government and is now hoping to be here for a full state visit. Relations soured after the Muizzu government pressed on its demand for the withdrawal of Indian military personnel manning defence platforms. Subsequently, the Indian military personnel were replaced by civilians. Maldives Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer visited India in May, while Jaishankar previously visited the Maldives in January 2023.

Jaishankar and Zameer earlier met in January in the Ugandan capital city of Kampala at the two-day summit of the Non-Aligned Movement.


During the current visit, India and Maldives will inaugurate the projects completed under High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDP) and Line of Credit facility of EXIM Bank of India and witness the exchange of the memorandum of understanding on areas for capacity building, commerce and trade, stated the Maldives Foreign Ministry on Thursday announcing the visit.

"Maldives is India's key maritime neighbour and an important partner in India's 'Neighbourhood First' Policy and our Vision 'Sagar' i.e. Security and Growth for All in the Region. The visit is aimed at strengthening the close partnership between the two countries and to explore avenues to enhance the bilateral relationship further," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement on Thursday. During his visit, Jaishankar will also pay a courtesy call on the President of the Maldives.